Show Delta Utah $20 00 la eaunty $23 00 sat et toun!y4 13 00 fla Mvattee) Copy Senior Citizens Mt (65 and older) $18 00 in county $20 00 out of County L'SPS Vol 0 79 No 44 Ma 4 1989 ECTC grazing impact uncertain by Ken Rand Air Force officials could not assure West Desert ranchers meeting in Delta Thursday April 27 that the proposed electronic battlefield will be compatible with livestock grazing The meeting was called by the Utah Farm Bureau the Utah Cattlemen’s Association and the Utah Wool Growers Association on behalf of ranchers who have grazing permits on BLM land in the area of the proposal Most of the ranchers live in Snake Valley an alternate location for the battlefield Tule Valley east of Snake is the location preferred by the Air Force but many Snake V' alley ranchers graze their livestock m Tule A third alternate location for the Electronic Combat Test Capability is in Whirlwind Valley which is east of Tule Valley about 30 miles west of Delta the About 50 people attended r Wr t u Trout Creek rancher at Delta meeting Ed Alder left listens to Lt Col Bob Greenlee ECTC for test not training Some articles appearing in the Chronicle Progress have said the purpose of the proposed Air Force 'rhe ‘Wesr electronic "P&ttielTetd-tDesert is to train fighter pilots in mock electronic warfare Air Force spokesman Dick Hector said that is an error The Electronic Combat Test Capability is test designed as an operational facility for weapons testing not for training Hector said Congress wants the test range “Congress has said that all the services continuously buy systems and then find out the thing doesn’t work” he said The operational test phase of development of a weapons system then would be intermediate between laboratory testing and deployment “The difference between testing and operadevelopment tional testing" Hector said “is ‘yotrrryto put it into a real situais testing tion Development laboratory style Operational testing is in a real environment but it’s still a test phase” It would be costly in the short term Hector said but it would save taxpayers in the long run “This capability doesn’t exist anywhere in the United States today in this manner” he said like at “There are similarities but they’re Nellis (in Nevada) set up for training primarily They’re not as sophisticated” Any training use of the ECTC will be incidental to the primary testing mission Hector said 4H demonstration held A demonstration for prospective Junior 4H Stock Show entrants was held at the stock barn in Delta Saturday April 29 Demonstrations on sheep swine and beef were held kids in 4H “This is for the who are just going into the stock show Meeting called on Mormon crickets A meeting on Mormon crickets and grasshoppers is scheduled for tonight at 7:30 pm in the Commission room at the County Courthouse in Fillmore Tom Crow of APHIS (animal plant health inspection service) will be on hand to inform all interested people what control methods and options are available to private land owners Land Meadow and owners from Kanosh Scipio are especially invited The meeting will also be open for It should put of ideas and information be noted APHIS is an advisory group acting only and has no official authority For more information about Mormon crickets see Evelyn Mallet’s article on page 3 Public notices Notices begin on page 9 They include a tax sale a hearing to determine if a grand jury should be held a trustee sale a special commission meeting an item about weeds and noxious others 4H assistant Marjorie Adams said “It shows them how to prepare their animal for the stock show You just don’t pull your animal out of the corral and go This shows you how to make it look good You have to wash it and trim it and that type of thing" Adams assists extension agent Larry Campbell in the Delta area "They’re going to learn how to fit the animals” Campbell said “By Tilting’ I mean grooming You wash them you clip them make sure they’re clean You try to bring out the best traits the animal has For example if you have a lamb that’s real short you’re going to clip it to make it look program” AF apologizes in Washington meet by Ken Rand Air Force officials apologized to from the Utah Catrepresentatives tlemen’s Association in a meeting in Washington D C last week for poor about the electronic communications battlefield for the W'est proposed Desert The officials met in the office of Hansen the Jim Representative of Wednesday April 19 UCA Executive Director Mike and UCA President Gary Rose had attended a meeting with members of the West Desert Range Association at Partoun Many of Tuesday April the questions raised at that meeting were repeated to the Air Force representatives in Hansen’s office Rose said he and Sibbett met with Hansen and the other members of the Utah congressional delegation “I felt in talking with those people that it opened up some specific areas they hadn't even thought about" he said ‘‘W'ere they ready for example to displace all the industry it be cattle mining or whether whatever if this thing becomes as big as it could be?” Total cost of the project spread over a period is about S3 billion “It’s going to be a humongous project” Rose said “I said are you really ready to displace all the people on the West Desert? And that was a question that had not really been addressed by them” Proposed site of the electronic battlefield is in Hansen’s district Hansen sits on several congressional committees including the Armed Services the and Interior Insular Affairs Committee “W'e expressed our concerns to Hansen and he set up a meeting” Sibbett said “It was a private briefing with two majors from the Pentagon They went through the concept with slides and screens showing us what Then we got to the they propose specific questions and concerns that were brought up in the meeting that we attended a couple of weeks ago” Sibbett said the first concern addressed was the radar station being built on the Confusion Mountains The site overlooks both Snake Valley and Tule Valley Tule Valley is the preferred location for the Electronic Combat Test Capability but Snake Valley where about 300 ranchers live is an alternative Many area residents believe the site is part of ECTC Contractors for the Air Force started building it four years ago “There are a lot of residents saying ‘Why do we even need to be concerned when it looks like they’re going ahead regardless of what we have to say?”’ Sibbett said ‘‘The Air Force told us that was an unrelated project for flights that are in there already right now" “It’s not in any way remotely connected with this new project” Rose said See DC page 4 longer” ' hi V A thing" was proThe swine demonstration vided by Shaun and Chris Kelly of Fillmore the sheep demonstration by Shelley and Brian Childs of Fillmore and the beef demonstration by Marcie Mortenson of Sutherland Ten Taylor also conducted a workshop on record keeping 50 people were at the About at the show barn in demonstration Delta Millard The County Junior I ivestock Show is scheduled for May 31 and June and 2 at the show barn As many as 500 animals and 300 4H and FFA kids from nine to 14 are expected Participants come from all over Utah 4 many people would be involved (350 or so construction workers by 1995 The Environmental Impact Statement process was explained A Draft E1S on the project is expected to be released in late June or ear! July Public hearings to gather comment will then be held Air Force officials stressed often during the meeting that no decisions on the project will be made until after a record of decision is reached That isn’t pected until September Office District BLM Richfield Manager Jerry Goodman explained the role his office plays m the project The Air Force wants to build up to 100 small “threat sites” that would function as electronic targets on BL M land south of Department of W land in the est Desert The BLM will be must decide if granted Ground installations would take up about 500 acres in small patches l Two Lids and a demo pig at the Delta show barn p Goodman said He expected the impact on grazing rglm and capacity to be "none or very irsigmficant ” There may be one inst alia ion of 400 to 600 acres that "may involve a percent of license or an exchange of use on a state section" he said Goodman noted possible improvements to roads in the desert could help ranshers tend their stock better But it could also bring more and attendant problems “I guess the public may be the major type of impact that would see in the lifestyle that know you have out there” he sad "You would see some changes in the solitude Obviously there’s some vandalism that enters to those types of things There’s ups and downsides to it” The meeting was then opened for questions from the ranchers By far the most animated discussions centered around grazing See GRAZING page 2 v I L U ? The Fillmore airport runway is 5000 feet long Local airports may be used for ECTC by Ken Rand Delta and Fillmore municipal airports are among alternative flight staging areas for the Air Force’s proposed in battlefield electronic the West Desert Officials say Hill Air Force Base in Ogden is the primary staging site for flights into the battlefield called the Electronic Combat Test Capability Alternate sites under study are Air Force Base in Nevada Michael Army Airfield at Dugway Salt Lake International Airport Delta and Fillmore Officially Delta City has not been contacted about use of their airport according to Mayor Ruth Hansen Nor has Airport Manager Neil Forster awareness has only been hea‘‘My heard “I’ve said Forster rsay” rumors” is also important Showmanship Campbell said “Not only are the animals judged” he said "but the kids are judged in their ability to show their animals That’s how well they pay attention to the judge and how well they display the animal It’s a competitive 6ood lhslth Spring meeting held at the M E Bird Center of mostly ranchers Representatives Senator Orrm Hatch Jake Garn and Jim Hansen attended Congressman Lt Gov Val Oveson also attended on behalf of Gov Norm Bangerter Lt Col Bob Greenlee from the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico opened the briefing by telling the ranchers why the Air Force needs the range “The ECTC requirement derives from the need for a more realistic electronic test environment” he said “We have no place now where we can really do that kind of testing” The range would be an extension of the Utah Test and Training Range Greenlee outlined briefly the physical layout of land and airspace involved (in a west Juab and Millard Counties) timetable for the project (1990 to 2000) its cost (S3 billion eventually) and how Fillmore Mayor Keith Gillins was not aware that the Air Force project might involve the rillmore airport until the Chronicle Progress contacted him for comment Air Force Lt Col Bob Greenlee said “We’re in the process now o! looking at a number ot differeni losa tions which could be used as places to stage aircraft for use on the FCTC in the event that our study shows that Hill Air Force Base at some time in the future could not accomodate all of the both from everybody else workload trying to use Hill Air Force Base as well as the additional workload associated with the FCTC Right now today we don’t know if that limit will ever he reached ” A study of capacity at Hill ATB will be part of the Environmental Impact Statement now being drafted on the project Greenlee said that studv will be as accurate as possible “given our inability to see an uncertain future ” What will it mean for Delta or Fillmore to be considered as an op tional staging site? "It involves looking at the existing airport and determining if it would serve our purposes’’ Greenlee said "and assuming it did we’d look at what set of facilities we’d have to add to it t accomodate our requirements” Greenlee said of an airport “What pacted about is taking the community “and making it airbase ” he doubted civilian use would be severly imwe are not talking the airport away from of Delta” he said an exclusively military Extended runways and adding other facilities to accommodate military aricraft may be required if an airport were selected as a staging area “Certin the case of the Delta airport” ainly Greenlee said “the runway complex as it currently exists is probably no adefor fighter aircraft” quate Some of the alternat’ves will likely be dropped Greenlee said “What think will probably happen is that in the balance of this year as the LIS is going on we’ll attempt to characterize what it would mean if we were to select some of these alternatives” he said would expect that some of “And them will not survive that process” The government is not interested in building bases it does not need Greenlee said “That includes an alternative satellite staging base like this which would be very austere by Air Force standards’’ he said “we’re not talking about putting in an Air Force base or anything even w duly like that ” Budgetary constraints would force any commitment of resources to be “exceedingly scrutinized" by Congress and Air Force leadership before it was Greenlee said “What I’m approved saving ts that the case to be made that Hill was saturated would have to be extremely thought out and documented before the Air Force would agree to expend the resources to build up any sort of alternative" he said Greenlee is affiliated with the Air Force Operation Tesi and Evaluation Center at Kirtland Air Force Base New Mexico the advocate for the project Air Force officials continue to stress no decision about the project will be made until public input on an Environmental Impact Statement now being written has been evaluated Della Community Medical Center Tuesday May 9 from 9:00 to 5:00 Fillmore Community Medical Center Wednesday May 10 8:00 to 6:00 West Millard Care Center Tuesday May 9 from 9:00 to Noon |