Officials in Pima County are monitoring an Air Force plan that would allow fighter jets to dip closer to the ground in some areas.
The Air Force is seeking federal approval for fighter jets to fly at lower altitudes in a spate of Military Operation Areas in Arizona and parts of New Mexico to accommodate training needs.
In a letter to Pima County officials, country administrator Jan Lesher says two of the sites are within county boundaries and encompass the Tohono O’odham Nation capital Sells, along with the towns of Arivaca, Ajo and Why.
Todd Schulke, co-founder of the Center for Biological Diversity, says these are existing military training sites, but the plan would increase activity.
“They want to lower the supersonic floor from 30,000 feet down to 5,000 feet, which would be a dramatic increase in noise and damage from sonic booms,” he said, "And then the other risk, which is just frightening, is wildfire, all people who live in mountainous rural communities are at risk of large wildfires, and the problem only seems to be growing,” he said.
Schulke says that’s because the Air Force also wants to lower the altitude where flares are allowed, a change he and other groups opposed to the proposal say would heighten the risk of wildfires in hard-to-reach rural areas.
He says 30% of the sites are located on tribal land, and the proposal includes requests to fly as low as 100 feet in some cases, though the majority are for 500 feet.
The frequency at which jets fly overhead could also increase in some areas. Public comment on the Air Force’s draft environmental impact statement closes Oct. 9.
