HomeMy WebLinkAbout20112936 Robert Loewe
117 N. D Street
Salida, CO. 81201
719-239-1432
October 24, 2011
Rich Mountain Experiences at Risk
An open letter to Senator Udall, Senator Bennet, Governor Hickenlooper, Secretary of
the Interior Salazar, Representative Langborn, Cannon Air Force Base, and the County
Commissioners of Chaffee County (and the 19 other counties affected by the Air Force
overflight proposal).
Is there anything that I can do to derail this coming intrusion of the U.S. Air Force air war
practice in the mountains of central Colorado?
Approximately every five days I ride my motorized wheel chair on the quiet roads within
a 75 mile radius from my apartment in Salida. It is on these trips that I experience peace
and joy as I touch with all my senses the quiet experience of being alone(except for an
occasional car) in the glory of places near to my home.
My chair takes me to Aspen Ridge, Marshall Pass, Old Monarch Pass, Lost Canyon
Road, Mineral Belt Trail, Ohio Creek Road, Tenderfoot Mountain, Ute Trail Road, Black
Sage Pass, Maroon Creek Road, Brush Creek Road, the Gothic Road up to Scofield Pass,
Turquoise Lake,the Hagerman Pass Road and the Midland Trail.
The rich experiences I have in the mountains collide dramatically with the news of
planned 5-hour-a-night very low altitude flights by three Air Force jets above these, to
me, sacred places of nature. The connection between these night flights and daytime
flights is just a quick Air Force's decision away (mission creep). I would deeply wish
that this violent war practice not be located in the air above this largely unspoiled and
holy mountain area.
Of course, I am just one person with these objections; yet with very few exceptions (such
as the owner of the Mountain Mail newspaper in Salida, Merle Baranczyk, who supports
these flights)I have briefly talked about this matter with over 175 people, five of that
number declared that the noise would not bother them. The remainder were very
displeased about this development.
There have to be many other geographic areas in the west where the peace-shattering jets
would be far less hurtful than to our largely pristine recreational mountains, hiking,
climbing, bicycling trails, fishing and boating rivers, camping places, hunting locales,
river valleys with cattle ranches and scenic highways.
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Senator Udall, Senator Bennet, Governor Hickenlooper, Representative Longhorn, and
County Commissioners from all the affected counties: Is there anything you can do to
help side track this soon-to-become-real absurd Air Force decision to desecrate this
largely unspoiled Colorado paradise. Please help to bring back to me my faith in this
country's by, for and of the people democracy-experiment.
Contact Cannon Air Force Base in writing with you feelings about these low level
training flights by: Fax at(575) 784-7412 . Deadline for comment is November 6, 2011.
Telephone questions to base officials at 575-784-4131. The draft environmental
assessment is available at http://www.cannon.af.mil/shared media/document/AFD-
110907010.pdf
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