Posts Tagged ‘encroachment’

The Navy has purchased an easement from the Washington Department of Natural Resources to limit development in the waterways surrounding Naval Base Kitsap in northwest Washington. The agreement will preclude near-shore commercial or industrial construction along the areas of the Hood Canal and neighboring waterways managed by DNR where the Navy operates, according to a press release. “[The partnership] will enhance environmental conservation along a portion of the Hood Canal and prevent encroachment into Navy operating ranges that are so vital to our mission and our national security,” said Capt. Peter Dawson, commanding officer of Naval Base Kitsap. “This partnership will also provide new protections for sensitive marine ecosystems, safeguard public access and support the jobs that depend on the Navy’s continued presence in the region,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark.

Following two days of visits with senior officials at the Pentagon last week, representatives from Craven County say local efforts to strengthen Eastern North Carolina’s Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point and Fleet Readiness Center East are paying off. “Senior civilians in the Pentagon do notice what we have done for Cherry Point, regarding encroachment and in terms of infrastructure improvements and planning and positioning ourselves for future growth …

As a decision approaches by the federal government on the Spokane Tribe’s plan to build a casino and resort under the path of training flights from Fairchild Air Force Base in Eastern Washington, local leaders are taking a stronger stand against the project. In a letter sent last week to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers said the project should not be approved because of the potential for it to interfere with the installation’s mission. “I believe that in order to not be vulnerable to closure in another [BRAC] round, Fairchild must be able to continue to modernize and prevent local development that could be viewed as an encroachment …

A measure passed by the North Carolina House last week is designed to prevent wind energy projects from proceeding until the state and local governments have an opportunity to determine whether they would interfere with military training. HB 484 would require the developer to obtain a $3,500 state permit and to address the potential that the project encroaches on flight training or other military operations …

The Navy signed an agreement last week with NASA allowing turboprop aircraft based in Norfolk, Va., to use the Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore to practice carrier landings. Under the agreement, the Navy will pay NASA $1.9 million a year for repairs and upgrades to the airfield, as well as reimburse the agency for support services it uses, reported the Virginian-Pilot. The Navy’s selection in January of the Wallops facility as an alternate landing site provides a host of benefits to the federal government and the Norfolk region …

The Defense Department’s Energy Siting Clearinghouse determined that 98 percent of the 1,769 commercial energy projects it reviewed in 2012 would have little or no impact on military testing, training or operational missions. The other 39 projects are undergoing further study, and defense officials are working with industry, state, tribal and local governments, and federal permitting and regulatory agencies to identify measures to mitigate those projects’ potential impacts …

No one would argue that a primary goal of the military should be to protect threatened species and the sensitive habitats where they thrive, but helping to save rare plants and animals certainly is a nice side benefit to ensuring the armed forces can continue to train at the nation’s 440 installations. For the past eight years, DOD’s Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative has helped to protect bases threatened by encroaching development by working with local governments and conservation organizations …

Fredericksburg, Va.-based Marstel-Day last week was awarded the 2012 Outstanding Federal Planning Program Award from the American Planning Association for its support of the Air Force’s encroachment management program. The environmental, land use and conservation consulting firm developed the Installation Complex Encroachment Management Action Plan (ICEMAP) concept to comprehensively address encroachment issues for Air Force installations, associated military training routes and remote training ranges. The ICEMAP process includes land use planning and conservation strategies that seek to maintain military-compatible and ecologically-valuable land uses on a regional scale …

New Mexico’s two Democrat senators and one Republican senator from Texas last week introduced legislation to transfer several large parcels of land between the Army and the Bureau of Land Management to provide buffers around White Sands Missile Range and Fort Bliss. The moves called for in the legislation were the result of an agreement reached between the Army and BLM …

A senior DOD official has objected to the proposed route for a 500-mile-long, high-voltage transmission line linking central New Mexico to southeastern Arizona, saying it jeopardizes the mission of White Sands Missile Range. “It should be clearly understood that no other location exists in the United States where it is possible to conduct flight tests of missile systems with these footprint requirements,” wrote Frank Kendall, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics …