Low-altitude flight training planned for Gunnison Valley

Some flights as low as 300 feet

The U.S. Air Force is proposing low-altitude flight training that would allow it to fly training missions into a 60,699-square-mile area covering Western Colorado and northern New Mexico.
That region includes all of Gunnison County and a large portion of the Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness. A draft environmental assessment (EA) was released in September.

According to the EA, three missions per day (688 missions per year) would depart from the Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., at dusk to complete five-hour missions. Approximately 50 percent of those missions would take place between 1,000 and 3,000 feet above ground level; 40 percent would take place between 500 and 999 feet; and 10 percent as low as 300 to 500 feet.
“Aircrew survivability in combat requires the constant exercise of perishable flying and crew coordination skills in challenging environments that closely simulate the conditions and terrain of actual combat,” the EA stated.
The EA, available for download at http://www.cannon.af.mil/library/environment.asp, finds that the project would have “less than significant air quality impacts,” and noise levels are below the 55 decibel threshold identified by the Environmental Protection Agency, above which public health and welfare must be assessed. And although the report concedes that the planes might startle wildlife, no significant affect is anticipated on “sensitive species.”
Public comments are being accepted until November 5, 2011, and a series of community meetings are being held. The Gunnison meeting will take place on Thursday, October 13 at Western State College, at 6 p.m. in the College Center Ballroom.
Comments can be mailed or faxed to: 27 SOW Public Affairs, 110 E. Sextant Ave., Suite 1150, Cannon AFB N.M. 88103, Phone:  (575) 784-4131; fax:  (575) 784-7412.