Top Ten reasons to be concerned about the Combat Aviation Brigade exercises proposed for Pinon Canyon and surrounding areas.....
1. The Army's
self assessment (EA) states 'no significant impact' will occur for 20,000+ additional hours of helicopter flights inside and OUTSIDE of the boundaries of Fort Carson and PCMS for a mix of at least 117 new helicopters
2. Low level flight 'routes' are planned between Fort Carson and Pinon Canyon - flying NAP (close as possible) of the earth level flights over our private property , our livestock, wildlife and families.
3. 'Public Comment' sessions required by NEPA are simply a check the box exercise for the Army - while the process won't change the Army's mind those comments have the real ability to change the outcome if we also communicate our concerns to our legislators to act.
4. The Army admits even though the EA doesn't say it now, they will be adding unmanned drones to the CAB mix of helicopters - ("we'll add those later" they say) perhaps doubling the flight hours in all of rural Colorado
5. They have 30 million acres + they already own/control in the US with tremendous amounts of air space for helicopters and drones so why propose flights in our private airspace? Are they trying to create conditions that are difficult for the residents and in order justify expansion?
6. Multitudes of people, agencies, towns, cities, and counties oppose any expansion (air or otherwise) and the CAB is seen as the latest attempt at expanding the boundaries of Pinon Canyon.
7. Experience by those close to Fort Carson advise there is no dependable avenue via the Army for stopping harassment issues with low flying helicopters over private property, as Ft Carson leadership is unable or just unwilling to rectify problems.
8. Concerns that severe damage to key industries and economies as cattle and wildlife production is disrupted by rooftop height flyovers.
9.
Property values negatively impacted from noise and harassment and
lost tourism dollars for businesses that promote 'pristine and quiet'
10. Efforts are now being made to include ALL of rural Colorado for unmanned drone testing and flights.* This threatens to further infringe upon our property rights and our right to privacy and thus threatens the very fabric this country was founded on.
*"Colorado alliance pursues unmanned aircraft system test range" A Springs and Denver Economic Development press release of 2-7-2012 says: "the existing, underutilized infrastructure at Front Range Airport, as well as its location to both DIA and sparsely populated areas will support the development, testing and manufacturing of unmanned aircraft systems."
