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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2021)
A10 OREGON East Oregonian Tuesday, October 26, 2021 Air Force training could disrupt Owyhee’s ‘Big Quiet’ By JORDAN RANE Columbia Insight ONTARIO — One of the country’s most sparsely popu- lated and persistently defended high desert wild lands soon may be subject to frequent sonic booms and shrieking fighter jets. The Mountain Home Air Force Base in southwestern Idaho is proposing expanded military training allowances across large portions of the Owyhee Desert — a 9-million- acre landscape of shrub steppe and remote canyons spanning three states cherished by tribes, ranchers, sportsmen, paddlers, hikers, conservationists, scien- tists and stargazers. The air base’s Proposal for Airspace Optimization for Readiness would increase the frequency and low-fl ight inten- sity of jet fighter exercises across giant sections of south- western Idaho, northern Nevada and southeastern Oregon. Current airspace restric- tions in the latter two states within the established USAF training range are set above at least 10,000 feet — or 30,000 feet when breaking the sound barrier. “In many cases that’s barely noticeable — you might see those planes before you hear them — but it’s nothing like what’s being proposed in the current plan,” says Mark Salvo, conservation director at Oregon Natural Desert Association. “We’re deeply concerned about fi ghter jet noise and disturbance to wild lands, wild waters, sensi- tive wildlife and local commu- nities, the risk of wildfi re from the increased use of fl ammable fl ares—and the fact that the Air Force hasn’t explained why it needs to conduct more and more intense training across this huge tri-state area.” ‘Gunfi ghters’ legacy Mountain Home Air Force Base is home to the 366th Fighter Wing (nicknamed the “Gunfi ghters”) and the F-15E Strike Eagle, a dual-role fi ghter designed to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. An array of avionics and elec- U.S. Air Force/Contributed Photo The 366th Fighter Wing of the U.S. Air Force fl ies out of Moun- tain Home Air Force Base in southwestern Idaho. The Air Force seeks fewer restrictions for the group, which would im- pact the portion of the Owyhee Desert in southeastern Oregon. Jim Davis/Contributed Photo The Mountain Home Air Force Base in southwestern Idaho is pro- posing expanded military training allowances across large por- tions of the Owyhee Desert — a 9-million-acre landscape of shrub steppe and remote canyons spanning three states cherished by tribes, ranchers, sportsmen, paddlers, hikers, conservationists, scientists and stargazers. tronics systems gives the F-15E the capability to fi ght at low altitude, day or night, in all weather. The 366th Fighter Wing’s primary mission is to provide combat airpower and support, as well as quick response to the military’s worldwide contin- gency operations. The base also is used for training by the Singapore Air Force, which has a detachment of F-15SG fi ghters on long-term assignment there. This isn’t the fi rst time the USAF has proposed expanding training in the Owyhee Desert from its Mountain Home Air Force Base. Seeking live bombing, missile shooting and low-fl y- ing exercises in the area in 1989, the Air Force expected minimal opposition in one of the coun- try’s most remote and lightly populated areas. This turned out to be a miscalculation. Opposition from Idaho- based groups led to nearly a decade of litigation and a compromise that ultimately allowed restricted low-altitude jet fi ghter training in Idaho’s Owyhee County. Public comment deadline Oct. 25 In Oregon, the USAF’s proposal could increase the frequency of sonic boom-pro- ducing training fl ights to nearly 19 per day — shattering the area’s famed Canyonlands, nicknamed “The Big Quiet,” and distressing indigenous wildlife. ONDA has launched a new online story map online story map of the area. Oregon Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, Democrats, have proposed protecting more than a million acres of wilder- ness in the Owyhee Canyon- lands, and designating 33 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers precisely where the military has proposed more intensive training. The military’s plan also would impact more than 500,000 combined acres of Wilderness Study Areas and Bureau of Land Management lands, according to ONDA. Much of the Oy whee Desert’s sprawling shrub steppe and canyons are on public land. “The Air Force needs to hear that there is strong, broad support for conservation in the Owyhee Canyonlands and southeastern Oregon, and that their proposal threatens to undermine the qualities that make this region so excep- tional,” according to an ONDA web posting. The deadline for public comment on the Air Force’s proposal was extended to Monday, Oct. 25. The Air Force is required to provide a fi nal environmental impact state- ment by a date that remains pending. A draft version of the EIS can be found here. You can submit a comment directly to the USAF here or copy an ONDA letter and submit a comment at www. mountainhomeafbairspaceeis. com. “Given the breadth and depth of public comment provided on the draft plan,” Salvo said, “we suspect it will take many months just to incorporate that (public) input.” Oregon wants test-to-stay in school policy By ELIZABETH MILLER Oregon Public Broadcasting SALEM — Schools have opened, and stayed open, this fall, even with COVID-19 still sicken- ing people in Oregon communities. But COVID- 19 is aff ecting schools too, including students and staff who don’t have the virus, as close contacts and exposures to positive cases lead to quaran- tines, which move people in and out of school. Oregon Department of Education director Colt Gill sees two solutions to that. “One is more students getting vaccinated,” Gill said. Currently, students 12 and older are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine eligibility for students ages 5-11 may be coming soon, but the FDA has not been approved that yet. Students who are vaccinated and asymptom- atic can remain in school. The other solution, Gill said, is something called “test-to-stay.” This program means students who test negative for COVID-19 can stay in school. Oregon health offi cials said last month they were considering it, but at an Oregon state board of education meeting Thursday, Oct. 21, Gill said Oregon needs to make it happen — starting with a more uniform quarantine policy across counties. “I’m working with the Oregon Health Author- ity to try to streamline that, and to frankly move to a test-to-stay policy, where students and staff are regularly tested for COVID-19 if they become a close contact and can stay in school if those tests are negative,” Gill said. “Test-to-stay” is diff erent from current testing eff orts schools may be off ering. A large number of schools off er diagnostic testing for students and staffi ng who are showing COVID-19 symp- toms. A smaller number of schools have signed on to off er screening testing, which gives schools a broader sense of the presence of COVID-19 by testing students and staff who don’t have symp- toms. That program is voluntary for schools and families. Test-to-stay faces capacity problem But both ODE and OHA said there’s some- thing holding Oregon back from “test-to-stay” — a stockpile of rapid testing kits, which they say Oregon doesn’t have. “We are working hard to notify the federal government that we need more access to those kits, we know that they are working on access to those kits, and as soon as they’re available in Oregon, that’s what we will be moving towards,” Gill said. Offi cials with the Oregon Health Authority also say there’s a staffi ng issue with implement- ing test-to-stay.