Weapons testing is what is new in the Navy”s plans for offshore military activity during 2015-2020, but there is a lot to read about whales.
The Navy will hold an open house in Fort Bragg this Friday, March 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Redwood Coast Senior Center to explain its plans for using offshore areas of California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska for continued military training and increased weapons testing.
The two-volume 1,828-page Northwest Training and Testing Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Impact Statement is online at www.NWTTEIS.com.
Public comment is due by Tuesday, March 25. Eight public meetings are being held in Washington, Oregon, California and Alaska between Feb. 26 and March 11.
The first part of the local scoping meeting will give the public a chance to talk to Naval staff and consultants about different aspects of the EIS/OEIS.
At 6:30 p.m., Navy project team members will give a presentation on the draft document.
“At this time, and throughout the entire meeting, the public will be able to ask questions to the Navy project team, and submit comments vocally (we will have a court reporter there recording oral comments) and in writing. Public comments are important to us,” said Liane Nakahara, Public Affairs Specialist, Navy Region Northwest.
The meeting will end at 8 p.m.
The Northwest Training and Testing Area will extend from Alaska to the southern boundary of Humboldt County. Areas off Mendocino County are not included in the plan.
But that was also the case four years ago when roughly the same area was being considered only for training not weapons testing unless it was part of training.
Back then Mendocino Coast residents led the opposition to the Northwest Range plan, creating several delays and extensions of the process. The Navy ultimately held several meetings in Fort Bragg and Ukiah back in 2009 and 2010. Those were the best attended of any meetings about the plan.
Most of the testing and training will be focused in the Puget Sound area. Residents here were mostly upset about impacts on whales.
The draft EIR includes a mountain of information about marine mammals, including one of the most comprehensive looks at the different kinds of sonar and their impacts on whales.
