HAMET
JimSmith
HAMET (High Altitude Mountain Environment Training)
In the southeastern part of Park County, Colorado, (the Guffey area), residents are facing a huge encroachment on their quiet and peaceful lives, safety and the lives of all animals both large and tiny, wild and tame. It has come to my attention that Mr. Mike Brazell has not at all been informed of this situation and so I am writing to both you and him.
The Army has a high altitude-training program called HAMET. This program includes having 47 landing zones surrounding the Guffey area. Each landing zone includes 1000m-diameter circle or over 700 acres each and the total is over 36,000 acres that the Army wants for training. This program REQUIRES pilots to fly 40 feet above the ground from one landing zone to another. So whether you live near a landing zone or not, you will be effected by the heavy aircraft flying low. When answering a question asked by fire chief, Don, of the Four Mile F.D. regarding who is responsible for responding to a crash, the Army stated, Don stated his concern over auto crashes happening when people are trying to see Flight for Life. He also stated that the airspace around Pikes Peak would be compromised if this HAMET is allowed. He was serious when he told the Army that Flight for Life will NOT be able to fly while airspace is compromised and people who are in need of life saving measures will not get them. “We will run the other way and your county or local Fire Dept. will assume responsibility both physically and financially.”
The total landings the Army proposed is over 20,000 per year. The “casual use” easement the Army hopes to get, lasts for 10 years. When challenged regarding the legality of acreage allowed for this type of application and whether the Army knew this much acreage must have an Act of Congress to obtain, the Army representative replied, “NO.” He said they will not reapply properly. There are many homes whose location has not been taken into account leaving many homes inside landing zones and some homes in numerous landing zones. This is because the Army used maps that they stated at a public meeting on December 4th, were in fact possibly 5 years old. The Army admitted they did not “Look under the trees.”
I think it is important to note that NO announcements were shared with the Guffey Community. No one called our fire chief nor our commissioner to get the word out, no one bothered to let us know that a meeting was occurring a month ago on this issue and no one notified us when another meeting was scheduled. Unless we get the Gazette out of Co Spgs, we would not have seen the Army’s press release.
A HUGE THANKS goes out to someone named Don who sent the notice of this meeting out 2 days before the meeting!! THANKS DON! Your email gave some of us a chance to be there.
I think it is imperative to share with you that the entire 4 Mile Creek valley is in line for designation as a Conservation Area. I would also like to inform you that the Army thinks we all live in the middle of nowhere. This is far from the truth sinceGuffey Gorge saw more than 12,000 visitors last summer!
Please take the time to look over the documents I have included in this email. Look carefully at the letters from the residents. Mr. Brazell advised that his voice will not make a difference but the voice of the people is very important and he can work with our letters to make a difference in this plan. Please be sure to send your letters to the BLM and Mr. Mike Brazell at the same time and Mike has asked that all letters have your physical address and email address in them.
TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! WRITE TODAY! THIS IS THE ONLY INPUT YOU WILL GET.
Lastly, I want to share with you that at the meeting on Dec. 4th there were some men calling us anti-military and this is far from the truth. Plenty of retired servicemen spoke up at the meeting recently about their fears and concerns for this program in our area. It is also important to note there are 2 other HAMET training facilities already existing in Colorado and a third is not necessary. The Army wants this to be a de-facto extension of the Fort Carson base. We do not want to live on base and I imagine many of you don’t either.
Thank you for your time. Thank you for taking this seriously. Thank you for getting involved.
Sincerely,
Heather Buckner
On Doe Valley Road
Mike Brazell’s District 1 County Commissioner mbra...@parkco.us
Nancy Keohane at the BLM rgfo_c...@blm.gov
HAMET Press Release 11/20/14
JimSmith
The BLM is reopening the public comment period on Fort Carson's proposal to use public lands for military helicopter training. Please submit your comment by Dec. 19, 2014.
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About the proposal
The BLM Royal Gorge Field Office received an application and a Plan of Development (POD) from the US Army Fort Carson requesting the use of public lands to conduct High Altitude Mountain Environment Training (HAMET). The BLM is in the planning stages for the preparation of a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document to evaluate the potential environmental effects of HAMET on BLM lands. The purpose of NEPA is to encourage public participation and actively inform the public, organizations, government agencies, Indian tribes and elected officials about the proposed action and to receive public input during the environmental review.
Casual Use Letter - The casual use letter dated May 1, 2013, represents the most recent coordination with the Army related to HAMET exercises on BLM lands.
Plan of Development - The POD represents the highest level of use the Army projects could occur on BLM lands. Current use is much less and can be found in the Casual Use Letter.
Exhibit 2 - Helicopter Landing Zones
IM 2001-030 Military Use On and Above Public Lands - This IM is a compilation and restatement in a single document of statutory, regulatory and policy guidance that affect the authorization of military activities that may impact public lands managed by BLM.
Attachment 1 - Military Activities on the Public Lands
Attachment 2 - Definitions and Acroynms
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How to Comment
The BLM is accepting scoping comments from the public from Nov. 19. until Dec. 19, 2014. These comments should help identify what issues and concerns should be addressed in the environmental assessment before the BLM begins drafting the document.
Comments concerning the proposed action, alternatives and identification of environmental issues are most helpful.For additional information or to submit a comment, please contact Nancy Keohane at 719-269-8531 or email comments to rgfo_c...@blm.gov with HAMET in the subject line.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Public Meeting Documents
Map Files
Proposed Landing Zones KMZ File*
*Google Earth is the best way to open the KMZ file. Download the KMZ file to your computer, right click on the file, hover over open with, and select Google Earth.
Mike Brazell’s District 1 County Commissioner mbrazell@parkco.us