Delay in EIS release date

This week, Peaceful Chiricahua Skies was informed by the US Air Force (USAF) that the date for the release of the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) will be moved out a year to the spring of 2026. When the final EIS is released, the USAF does not plan a comment period.

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After the extended comment deadline of November 12, 2024, the process is now in a period of low activity while the USAF prepares the final EIS. That is expected to be released in the spring of 2025 with a final decision in the summer of 2025.

In the meantime, please keep submitting nuisance flight reports, as well writing to your elected officials and agency heads.

ACTION ALERT: In addition please write the new AZ Senator to let him know your thoughts.

Arizona has a new Senator, Ruben Gallego – and NOW is the time to contact him (even if you have already.)

When we had contacted him earlier, he declined to review the matter. We are hoping that now that he’s officially taken his Senate seat, we can all pressure him to respond. You can email him here and/or send a copy of your comments to Senator Ruben Gallego, 3333 East Camelback Road, Suite 200, Phoenix, AZ 85018.

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With a lengthy fight likely ahead of us, CRC is in it for the long haul. We are partnering with other regional and national groups who are opposing this proposal, including Peaceful Chiricahua Skies.We have heard from some of you who would like to donate to this effort. You can donate to CRC’s general fund with a note that you’d like your donation to go toward supporting the opposition to the Air Force proposal. We will use those funds as needed for that purpose, and if they are not needed for that, we will use them to otherwise protect the habitats of the Chiricahua, Peloncillo and Dragoon Mountains, and nearby areas of southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and adjacent northern Mexico.

The Air Force MOA expansion issue will appear dormant for the next year or so while the agency prepares the Draft EIS, which is planned to be released in the fall of 2023. After that there will be a public review and comment period, the Final EIS (summer 2024), and the Record of Decision (fall 2024).

In the meantime, we urge you to visit Peaceful Chiricahua Skies, sign this online petition, write your elected representatives, and share this information with others.

The post CRC to Collect Funds to Support Opposition to USAF’s MOA Expansion appeared first on Chiricahua Regional Council.

The contents of the CRC comments are as follows:

March 4, 2022

U.S. Air Force
Arizona Regional Airspace EIS
501 Butler Farm Road, Suite H
Hampton, VA 23666

Re: Opposition to the Tombstone MOA proposal for Expanded Military Training over the Chiricahua and Peloncillo Mountain region

To Whom It May Concern:

Chiricahua Regional Council (CRC) is a citizen’s watchdog group that monitors public agency actions and other issues affecting the Chiricahua, Peloncillo, and Dragoon Mountains, and nearby areas of southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and adjacent northern Mexico. The CRC promotes responsible land use and wise, science-informed stewardship of our unique natural heritage. Our broad constituency includes scientists, ranchers, birders, naturalists, astronomers, artists, residents, visitors, and many others, who value our region’s spectacular qualities.

CRC is not opposed to military training. We are, however, deeply opposed to the Department  of  the Air  Force’s  proposed action to expand its Military Operations Area over the Chiricahua and Peloncillo Mountain region and surrounding private lands and towns in Arizona and New Mexico for the following reasons:

(1) We object to the way in which this process has been conducted.  The nearest public meeting for the Tombstone MOA was not only outside the  MOA itself  but  a 2-hour  drive  for  some  in  the  area and at an inconvenient time of day for many residents. Yet, enough local people were concerned that more than 100 people attended.

(2) Considerable information is lacking in the proposal as currently presented by the Air Force – and representatives at the meeting were unprepared to address those gaps.

(3) This area is in a 1,200-year drought cycle, and the Chiricahuas have already been hit by major wildfire events: The 2011 Horseshoe II fire burned 225,000 acres. The Air Force plan to increase the number of flares is extremely dangerous: The Forest Service has already had several instances of wildland fire ignitions caused almost certainly by flares from Air Force training flights. In the spring of 2021, the Telegraph Fire, near Globe Arizona, was likely ignited by a flare dropped from an Air Force, Air National Guard training flight. This fire cost the taxpayers approximately $35 million and put more than 1,000 firefighters at risk, in extremely rough terrain at the height of the southwestern fire season.

(4) The historic Chiricahua Wilderness Area, part of America’s first Wilderness Act of 1964, is a national treasure. While CRC certainly supports military preparedness, we strongly believe that the Chiricahua Wilderness is not an appropriate place for military training flights.

(5) According to the National Park Service’s sound map, southwest New Mexico is one of the quietest regions in the country. Cochise and Hidalgo Counties are renowned for their relaxed atmosphere, natural beauty, dark skies, and numerous federally protected areas. Many people are drawn to this area for its exceptionally high quality of life, and wildlands and wildlife critical to maintaining what’s left of nature.

(6) That natural beauty, dark skies, and quiet means that the local economy depends heavily on tourism. The draw of the birding opportunities available in Cave Creek Canyon, one of the world’s most celebrated avian viewing spots, generates millions of dollars in income for local businesses. This trend is expected to grow exponentially in the future.

(7) The local residents depend heavily on the local EMS services, and 25-30 percent of patients are medivac’d from this area to hospitals. Increasing the size of the MOA would disrupt if not eliminate helicopter service.

For all these reasons – and more – Chiricahua Regional Council is strongly opposed to the revised MOA as proposed. We ask that the Air Force thoroughly develop an alternative that reduces the Tombstone MOA to exclude entirely the most biologically important areas, primarily the areas of the Coronado National Forest within the MOA, along with adjacent or nearby National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, and other specially designated areas.  Among the already proposed Alternatives, we can only potentially support Alternative 1 (“no action”), but believe that the Air Force needs to evaluate further exclusions (as it did for the Douglas Airport area of the southern Sulphur Springs Valley) because of the changing demographic, economic, and biological conditions within the MOA

Sincerely,

Wynne Brown, President
Chiricahua Regional Council
Portal, AZ 85632
chiricahuaregionalcouncil@gmail.com

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A map of the areas affected is below and includes the Chiricahua, Peloncillo, and Dragoon Mountains, and nearby areas of southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico. More information is available here.

We are still assessing this proposal, but it is of obvious concern as it could result in flights as low as 100 feet above ground level, flights that break the sound barrier as low as 5,000 feet, more training missions at night, release of chaff and flares, and other negative consequences for our peaceful area of southeastern Arizona.

A similar threat was successfully opposed in the past by the Peaceful Gila Skies coalition.

Key upcoming activities and dates include a series of public meetings, including one in Animas on February 24, and scoping comments being due on March 4, 2022.

If you are interested in receiving more information on this threat and the work of a coalition to oppose it, sign up here. Also stay tuned to this site for more updates.

(click for interactive version)

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