Navy Hornets stung by coalition of property owners, sportsmen, birders and environmentalists

It doesn’t take a GED to realize that aircraft and large concentrations of birds — especially large birds like tundra swans and snow geese — don’t mix. However the U.S. Navy, which has experts on the subject of avian/aircraft collisions, has been trying since 2002 to locate an Outlying Landing Field (OLF) just a few miles from Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge (PLNWR) in Washington and Beaufort counties in eastern North Carolina. Approximately 25,000 tundra swans, 65,000 snow geese plus tens of thousands of other migratory waterfowl over-winter at PLNWR.

The Navy will have to wait, however. On Feb. 18 U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle filed an injunction stating that the Navy could not carry out any more planning, development or construction “...without first complying with its obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires the Navy to thoroughly consider the environmental consequences of its actions.”

Boyle further stated that, in his opinion, “In the face of the Navy’s failure to comply with NEPA, and in consideration of the relative harms, the balance of equities weighs heavily in favor of a permanent injunction.”

The ruling was the result of a lawsuit filed by National Audubon Society and joined by Washington and Beaufort counties plus Defenders of Wildlife and the North Carolina Wildlife Federation. The Navy is not ready to lower its landing gear and plans to appeal the ruling to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Chris Canfield, vice president of Audubon North Carolina, is guardedly optimistic regarding the appeal. Canfield’s confidence is spawned by the broad, diverse coalition opposed to the OLF. “This opposition to the OLF cuts across all political and environmental spectrums,” Canfield said. He noted that opponents included NRA members, private property rights proponents, sportsmen, birders, local governments and environmental groups.

Another factor buoying the spirits of Canfield and other plaintiffs is the Navy’s own assessments regarding the OLF. In a seemingly terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease, Navy experts bandied about strategies and assessments regarding the OLF in emails that were reviewed by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Kennedy Covington, attorneys for Washington and Beaufort counties.

Some of the gems they found:

“...Don’t know about you but I have a very uneasy feeling about our criteria and the process.” – Alan Zusman, member of the Navy team charged with preparing the Environmental Impact Statement for development of the OLF.

“Very uneasy. Up until the preferred OLF site was chosen, everything made sense and all decisions could be logically explained. Now we have to reverse engineer the whole process to justify the outcome.” — John Robusto, the Navy’s principal expert on operational matters to Zusman.

To get a detailed look at the OLF story, including more incriminating emails from the Navy, log onto the Southern Environmental Law Center’s website at www.southernenvironment.org/Cases/navy_olf?navy_olf.shtml.

The scoop is that the Navy succumbed to political pressure from affluent Chesapeake County, Virginia, where there is an existing OLF because of the added noise that would be created by the nearly 32,000 annual practice runs simulating aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings for the Navy’s new F/A-18 Super Hornet.

Then, according to Navy emails, the politicos took it a step farther “... I also understand that Sen. Warner, Sen. Dole and Mr. Johnson are beginning a dialogue to discuss the Super Hornet basing and they are attempting to derive a political win/win for VA and NC,” from Commander David Slenicki.

The Southern Environmental Law Center describes that win/win:

“The OLF at the proposed site in Washington and Beaufort counties in North Carolina would devastate one of the poorest areas of the state. In Washington County, where approximately 80 percent of the OLF would be located, 22 percent of residents are living in poverty, and the median income is less than $29,000 per year. Forty-nine percent of the population is African American. Comparatively, in Chesapeake County, Virginia, where the existing OLF is located, the median household income is over $50,000 per year, and only 7 percent of the residents live in poverty. Twenty-nine percent of the population is African American. The disparities between the counties – one wealthy, the other poor – is striking.”

The Navy, caught with its pants down, has pulled out its trump card – national security. “We believe today’s decision is the wrong one, both from a legal perspective and from the perspective of national security,” a Navy spokesman said after the ruling.

In today’s political climate national security trumps almost everything. But Canfield is counting on the Navy’s own assessment again. According to Canfield the Navy’s own records clearly show that an OLF near PLNWR is not necessary for national security.

I didn’t dance the “conservation two-step” when I read about the ruling because of the looming appeal to the 4th District – a not so environmentally tuned body. But I talked with Chris Canfield and he pointed out that judge Boyle was probably on the way to the 4th District appellate court. Doyle was Bush’s nominee in 2001 and now again in 2005. He certainly has the administration’s support so, hopefully, his ruling will be reviewed on its merits.

I hope Canfield is right. I hope the birds of PLNWR will be able to forage and sleep in peace and I hope that if the Navy is worried about our national security they won’t waste millions of taxpayers’ dollars on an unneeded OLF but invest it in meaningful ways to keep our country safe.

(Don Hendershot writes about the outdoors. He can be reached at ddihen@juno.com.)