Air Force flyovers on tap for the region
Sonic booms could be on the horizon for Durango and the Four Corners. New Mexico’s Cannon Air Force Base plans to fly three practice missions a night through a large swath of Colorado and New Mexico. The 27th Special Operations Wing recently issued a draft environmental assessment of the proposal that includes a preliminary “Finding of No Significant Impact.”

Though the Albuquerque-Santa Fe-Taos corridor and the Colorado cities of Pueblo, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction have been excluded from the training area, Durango is right at its center. The West Elk Mountains, located between Aspen and Crested Butte, would serve as the northern boundary.

The flights would include the airplane helicopter hybrid known as the Osprey and large cargo/transport planes.

According to the draft EA, the planes would fly as low as 300 feet above ground level, though most would be at 500 feet and higher. The Air Force stressed the importance that high elevation areas and mountainous terrain play into the training of its pilots. It added that flights would mostly be at night and avoid population centers, in order to mimic the reality of covert missions.  

The plan is raising eyebrows all over the region. Sloan Shoemaker, executive director of Wilderness Workshop, has called for a full review of the proposal in the form of an environmental impact statement. The conservation group, which is based in Carbondale, charges that EA is not sufficient for an activity that will have sweeping impacts over a huge area.

“The scope and scale of this thing is immense,” Shoemaker told the Aspen Daily News. “We are certainly going to be looking at it.”
Early this year, local opponents of the plan turned out at a public hearing in Durango. They alleged that the flyovers would create noise and air pollution, frighten wildlife and livestock, and potentially disrupt civil aviation.

The Air Force purports to be open to public feedback. “We take our mission very seriously and want to complete it safely while minimizing impact to both the environment and people of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado,” said Col. Kirk Smith, 27th Special Operations Wing vice commander.
Durangoans can weigh in again next week. there will be a public meeting 6-9 p.m., Mon., Oct. 11, at the DoubleTree Hotel. Written comments also will be accepted through Nov. 5. More information is available at www.cannon.af.mil/library/environment.asp.

Tipton accused of stacking hearing
Partisanship is rattling the San Juan Mountain Wilderness Act. The bill is the product of years of negotiation and would add tens of thousands of acres to the local wilderness inventory. However, allegations have been aired that U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., and republican party members tried to tilt the playing field during a “listening session” last Friday in Ouray.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and co-sponsor Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., took a step toward further enhancing the local wilds by reintroducing the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act. First proposed by former U.S. Rep. John Salazar in 2009, the bill would grow local wilderness by more than 33,000 acres and protect 30,000 additional acres by other means. Most significantly, it would safeguard some of Southwest Colorado’s most renowned viewsheds, including the slopes of Mount Sneffels and Wilson Peak, two of Colorado’s most widely known fourteeners.

However, in order for the bill to pass, Tipton must sponsor it in the House of Representatives, and the Republican is still uncertain. In order to get closer to a decision, Tipton held a public forum Sept. 30, and proponents of the bill are crying foul in the aftermath. First, the location was changed at the last minute from Ridgway to Ouray. Second, foul play was suspected after an email from Ouray County Republican Party Chairman Jim Buske was intercepted. “If you can come an hour early so we can jam the hall with conservatives, that would be great too,” the correspondence read.

Democrat Sal Pace, current Colorado House Minority Leader and a candidate for Tipton’s seat in 2012, accused the congressman of behind-the-scenes dealings. He alleged that Tipton’s office coordinated invites with the local Republican Party weeks before sharing the details with the rest of the public or the media.

“Now he’s trying to pack a supposed public meeting,” Pace said. “If Scott Tipton doesn’t want to talk to regular Coloradans, why doesn’t he just stay in Washington, D.C? He could save us taxpayers the airfare.”

Tipton’s office rejected notions that the public meeting was “stacked” against the bill. “It wasn’t,” said Josh Green, Tipton’s spokesman. “Our office took additional precautions to address any such concerns by relocating the meeting to ensure that all comers had an equal opportunity to attend and participate.”

Meanwhile, the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act forged ahead on Capitol Hill. On Tuesday, Udall gave a speech on the Senate floor, saying, “When we talk about natural resources, we aren’t just talking about beautiful landscapes and future generations – there are incredibly important economic benefits to preserving and protecting these lands.”

Those benefits were part of the impetus for the San Juan Mountains Wilderness Act and Udall’s Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act. The second bill would expand off-season recreation at ski areas and passed the House by a vote of 394 to 0 on Monday.

Groups sue Four Corners Power Plant
The Four Corners Power Plant went back into the crosshairs this week. A coalition of Navajo and national conservation groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday that alleges that the notorious polluter is in violation of the Clean Air Act.

Earthjustice filed the suit on behalf of Diné CARE and To’Nizhoni Ani, two Navajo conservation groups; the National Parks Conservation Association; and the Sierra Club. The action alleges that the owners and operator of the Four Corners Power Plant have repeatedly violated the Clean Air Act by not updating pollution controls. “Four Corners’ excessive pollution poses a serious threat to our community’s health,” said Nicole Horseherder, of To’ Nizhoni Ani. “Four Corners’ owners have two options if they are going to obey the law: Clean the plant up, or shut it down.”
 

The Clean Air Act requires power plants to install modern pollution controls that comply with the federal “Best Achievable Control Technology” standard. The Four Corners power plant has been modified numerous times since 1985 but has never installed legally required pollution controls. The plant, west of Farmington, is the nation’s single largest point source of nitrogen oxide.
– Will Sands