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The U.S. Air Force has extended a public comment period on a proposal to expand airspace for military training flights, including lower altitude flights over the Gila National Forest.
Members of Congress from Arizona and New Mexico had requested an extension for public comments – including New Mexico Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Luján as well as their fellow Democrat, U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez – arguing the public had not had sufficient opportunity to learn what was being proposed. Vasquez serves on the House Armed Services Committee.
The comment period extended the comment deadline from Oct. 9 to Nov. 12.
The Air Force released a draft Environmental Impact Statement in August outlining plans and projected impacts of plans to expand military training exercises over public lands in the two states, including the Gila Wilderness, Coronado National Forest and lands by the federal Bureau of Land Management in southwest New Mexico’s Bootheel region.
The process includes a period for community input and public hearings. However, the New Mexico representatives stated in a letter to Air Force leadership, and was first reported by New Mexico Political Report, that the hearings were not sufficiently publicized.
“While these public hearings were announced on the EIS Air Force website, we are concerned the Air Force did not effectively nor actively publicize the draft EIS nor the dates and locations of the public hearings in Reserve, Lordsburg, Animas, and Silver City, New Mexico, and surrounding areas that could be impacted by the proposed changes as well,” they stated in their letter.
The three representatives expressed concern about lowering altitude floor for supersonic flights, protections for threatened species and the use of flares as low as 2,000 feet above ground level as a wildfire risk in difficult terrain.
Conservation organizations in the two states have also expressed concerns about excessive noise and damange to ecosystems around national monuments, wilderness areas and rural and tribal communities.
In the EIS, the air force says changes to 10 FAA-designated Military Operations Areas are needed because of insufficient airspace to train crews from Davis-Monthan and Luke air force bases in Tucson, Ariz. as well as the Morris Air National Guard Base near Phoenix; it also cited The proposal would not create new operational areas but modify existing ones, to include expanding the boundary of one and lower altitude ceilings for the use of flares and for supersonic flight training. The EIS includes three alternative proposals, plus a “no action” option.
A final EIS is due next spring, per the document, with a final record of decision to come from the FAA next summer.
The proposed changes and draft EIS, with a button for leaving comments online, is available at ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com.
