Port Townsend/San Juans: New Military Planes Flying Day & Night, Disturbing The Peace?! (Sequim: theater, beaches)

[TrueTimbers]

Originally Posted by Dendrite

One of the article headlines from today's Peninsula Daily News: "Public meeting set in Port Townsend to discuss proposal to add 36 Growlers at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island"

I personally am truly stuck on this naval/civilian sharing of space thing.

[RavensRansom]

Doing more than disturbing the peace.

Dahr Jamail | Navy Plans Electromagnetic War Games Over National Park and Forest in Washington State

Monday, 10 November 2014 11:34 By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report


[vimeo]108785446[/vimeo]
Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest in Washington State are two of the most beautiful wilderness areas in the United States. Majestic glacier-clad peaks rise above temperate rainforest-covered hills. Gorgeous rivers tumble down from the heights and the areas are home to several types of plants and animal species that exist nowhere else on earth.

These protected national commons are also the areas in and near where the US Navy aims to conduct its Northwest Electromagnetic Radiation Warfare training program, wherein it will fly 36 of its EA-18G "Growler" supersonic jet warplanes down to 1,200 feet above the ground in some areas in order to conduct war games with 14 mobile towers. Enough electromagnetic radiation will be emitted so as to be capable of melting human eye tissue, and causing breast cancer, childhood leukemia and damage to human fetuses, let alone impacting wildlife in the area.


What is at stake is not just whether the military is allowed to use protected public lands in the Pacific Northwest for its war games, but a precedent being set for them to do so across the entire country.


If it gets its way, this means the Navy would be flying Growler jets, which are electronic attack aircraft that specialize in radar jamming, in 2,900 training exercises over wilderness, communities and cities across the Olympic Peninsula for 260 days per year, with exercises lasting up to 16 hours per day.


No public notices for the Navy's plans were published in any media that directly serve the Olympic Peninsula; hence the Navy initially reported that it had received no public comments on its "environmental assessment" for the war games.

Rest of the article here:

Dahr Jamail | Navy Plans Electromagnetic War Games Over National Park and Forest in Washington State

[NewbiePoster]

Originally Posted by RavensRansom

Doing more than disturbing the peace.

Rest of the article here:

Dahr Jamail | Navy Plans Electromagnetic War Games Over National Park and Forest in Washington State

Definitely some weird stuff going down! You'll probably be interested in this thread:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/washi...s-coastal.html



I'd hate to think that the military could pull this kind of stuff wherever they want: redwood forests, the Grand Canyon, or whatever scenic areas they feel the need to use.

[TrueTimbers]

It does no sound like a good idea over a popular national park.. I am.a.bit confused though, seems as if though they intend to use forest land not park land.. .with jets though hard to differentiate.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by TrueTimbers

It does no sound like a good idea over a popular national park.. I am.a.bit confused though, seems as if though they intend to use forest land not park land.. .with jets though hard to differentiate.

I found it confusing at first, too. The way I understand it now, is, that they plan to do the actual "war games" on mainly non-park land over on the coast. But in order to get there, they'd have to fly a lot of planes over Port Townsend and other towns en route from Whidbey to Forks and vicinity. And some of the activity would border the park, though theoretically, it wouldn't go inside the park.

It's still a concern, though, because the coast gets its fair share of tourism, not to mention the coastal rainforest, itself. And there's the potential impact on wildlife. It would be horrible if animals experienced adverse affects from those intense EM fields. I hope the military plans a very thorough warning system to the local residents over there, so no one will accidentally wander within range of that stuff while on a hunting or berrying trip, or kids playing in the forest, or something.

[TrueTimbers]

Yep make noise people.

I believe congressional oversite is in order for this.repurposed use of the national forest. I do not believe this is unique though. I am.aware of at least one other military project on forest land.

[elkotronics]

Having thinned trees just east of Forks on First Service land for several months in 1983-84, I can tell you that there's massive open forested acreage on the OP. Hurting wildlife on those lands in my view is unacceptable.

Knowing what the U.S. government did here near Alamogordo when they dropped the first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site, We know that they're capable of flexing their "let's just try it 'cause we can" muscles. I would start thinking of questions to ask, especially if I was still living on the Olympic Peninsula anywhere.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

Having thinned trees just east of Forks on First Service land for several months in 1983-84, I can tell you that there's massive open forested acreage on the OP. Hurting wildlife on those lands in my view is unacceptable.

Knowing what the U.S. government did here near Alamogordo when they dropped the first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site, We know that they're capable of flexing their "let's just try it 'cause we can" muscles. I would start thinking of questions to ask, especially if I was still living on the Olympic Peninsula anywhere.

Originally Posted by True Timbers;

Yep make noise people.

I believe congressional oversite is in order for this.repurposed use of the national forest. I do not believe this is unique though. I am.aware of at least one other military project on forest land.

Good point about NM.

Locals met with one of their congressional representatives who was sympathetic to the cause, but she told them the Pentagon is much more powerful even than Congress or the President. What they want, they get. That's what she said. (That might be among the links on the other thread, the War Games thread.) If that's true, I don't know why Congress bothers to have committees dedicated to military issues and oversight. Why go through the charade of Congressional oversight if Congress has no clout?

[rantiquity]

In other news people in Sea-Tac are still complaining about the noise of aircraft flying over their homes.

[rantiquity]

Originally Posted by elkotronics

Having thinned trees just east of Forks on First Service land for several months in 1983-84, I can tell you that there's massive open forested acreage on the OP. Hurting wildlife on those lands in my view is unacceptable.

Actually creating open space creates more wild life by creating more grass lands.

Knowing what the U.S. government did here near Alamogordo when they dropped the first atomic bomb at the Trinity Site, We know that they're capable of flexing their "let's just try it 'cause we can" muscles. I would start thinking of questions to ask, especially if I was still living on the Olympic Peninsula anywhere.

And just think of the more than one million estimated American soldiers who those test saved by not fighting on the Japaneses mainland....Heavens forbid.