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Show THE U.S. Air Force's proposal to build an advanced radar and communications center on the site of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park near Atlanta, Georgia has not been enthusiastically received by con-aervationists con-aervationists and Interior Department De-partment officials for two apparent appar-ent reasons: (1) Would acceptance accept-ance of the USAF plan Jeopardize Jeop-ardize other national parks in the future, and (2) Would technological tech-nological advances in the future require additional construction which would take up more park apace. The reasons why the USAF More than 100 potential sites were investigated, USAF spokesmen spokes-men told conservation leaders. The primary factors that led to the "reluctant" selection of the 3,094-acre park were its favorable favor-able location with respect to existing ex-isting trans-continental communications communi-cations lines, the solid structure of the mountain core and the park's proximity to a support base where military personnel could be billeted. Defense requirements re-quirements demand that the installation in-stallation be erected in a stable subterranean formation with up to 400 feet of natural rock cover overhead. chose the Kennesaw Mountain Park site were explained to conservation con-servation leaders in Washington t a special meeting in the office of Roger Ernst, Assistant Secretary Sec-retary of the Department of Interior In-terior for public land management, manage-ment, according to the Wildlife Management Institute. Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park occupies the crown and slopes of the 1,800-foot 1,800-foot mountain, which was the scene of action in the Civil War's battle of Atlanta. A USAF construction man explained ex-plained .that the SAGf unit's surface features would consist of an access road, parking lot, air shaft and entry tunnels. These would be in a little-used part of the park, he said, and construction construc-tion scars would be obliterated. Park attendance records show increasing public use of Kennesaw Kenne-saw Mountain National Battlefield Park and this year more than 188,750 persons visited the monument monu-ment In a six-months period |