Contributed Article/Courtesy Paul Wolterbeek
GILA COUNTY – Should jets from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Luke Air Force Base, and Morris Air National Guard Base be allowed to fly even lower over Gila County and the San Carlos Apache lands? Should they be allowed “supersonic training at lower altitudes . . . and use of chaff and lowering the minimum release altitude for flares?”
The public comment period has been extended to Tuesday, Nov. 12, during which local residents can post comments, favorable or in opposition, to proposed changes to Military Operations Areas (commonly referred to as MOAs) that include the airspace over Gila County and the San Carlos Apache reservation.
One of the four options would allow jet aircraft to descend as low as 500 feet. Another would lower the floor of the “Jackal MOA” (which includes San Carlos Apache lands) to 100 feet. Alternative 1, “the No Action Alternative,” leaves current flight levels unchanged. Read the complete details of the four alternatives and post your comments here:
arizonaregionalairspaceeis.com/comments
According to the Heart of the Gila, the flights would encompass all of southeastern Arizona and parts of New Mexico.
“The plan will authorize thousands of additional low-elevation fighter jet maneuvers and low-elevation supersonic flights that cause sonic booms and impact dozens of rural communities, affect 30 tribes and pueblos with traditional ties to the area, and subject millions of acres of federal public lands, including national forests, the Continental Divide Trail, wilderness areas, national monuments, and wildlife refuges, to increased noise, pollution, and risk of fire. The proposal amounts to an attempt to turn an enormous swath of public, tribal, and private lands in SE Arizona and SW New Mexico into a low-elevation military training ground without regard for the economic, social, and cultural impacts on rural communities.” – Heart of the Gila
Comments may also be mailed to: Arizona Regional Airspace EIS, c/o Stantec, 501 Butler Farm Rd., Suite H, Hampton, VA 23666.
Originally proposed in 2022, no changes were made following extensive local opposition. Two years later, the Department of the Air Force issued a notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Statement for Regional Use Airspace Optimization to Support Air Force Missions in Arizona.
The special use airspace being addressed in the EIS includes several Air Force-managed MOAs, including the Jackal region in the Globe area. Four alternatives are proposed. Alternative 1 is a no-action — airspace optimization would not occur. None of the existing MOAs would be modified.
The other three alternatives are requests for changes in all regions in Arizona including the Jackal region. Some of the changes of concern are changing the times for training, lowering the subsonic floor to 100 feet above ground level, and lowering the altitude for releasing flares. The Department of Air Force is soliciting public comments on the three preliminary alternatives that would optimize existing MOAs.
The EIS will also evaluate a no-action alternative.
For detailed information on each of the alternatives, you can visit the project website at www.ArizonaRegionalAirspaceEIS.com.
