A proposed expansion of a bombing range in southwestern Idaho could have a potentially significant effect by restricting grazing and mining in the area and restricting access to water and reducing private land ownership, according to a draft environmental impact statement.
To make up for those effects, the Air Force suggested compensating grazers and miners for the loss of access, maintaining access where possible and minimizing the acquisition of private land.The draft EIS also said the proposed expansion's potential to disturb habitats and cause fires throughout the expanded range could have a significant effect on wildlife.
The Air Force Thursday mailed out copies of the statement for the proposed Saylor Creek bombing range expansion, marking the start of the plan's formal review process.
The draft EIS - which the Air Force calls the first tier in a two-stage study process - describes the potential effects of the range expansion as well as expansion of operations at the Mountain Home Air Force Base.
The Air Force plans to move 94 F-4 jet fighters to Idaho from a California base in a congressionally required consolidation of military bases. The move will nearly double the number of planes currently stationed at the base. Details of range-expansion plans, however, were not included. They will be addressed in the second tier EIS if the Air Force decides to continue the range expansion review process, the Air Force said.
Only at that point would the Air Force draw range maps and identify specific boundaries for the proposed expansion. The Air Force hopes to complete the Tier One EIS process and make a decision on whether to proceed with the second stage of range expansion studies by July.
The Air Force last fall proposed to expand the southern Idaho bombing range from 100,000 to 1.5 million acres. That proposal included supersonic flights and the use of live bombs.
But at a series of scoping hearings, the Air Force's plan ran into opposition from area residents. Public hearings on the draft environmental impact statement are planned for Twin Falls, Boise, Mountain Home, Grand View and Glenns Ferry during the week of April 2-7. Specific dates have not been set.
The public will have 45 days from the department's official announcement of the draft Tier One EIS release on March 2 to comment on it. Copies of the document will be available at local sites, including the College of Southern Idaho library, the Twin Falls County Courthouse, Sun Valley and Ketchum city halls, the DeMary Memorial Public Library in Rupert and the Burley High School Library. Comments and questions received during the 45-day public comment period will be addressed in the final EIS.