|
 |
|
Esta página no está disponible en español. Floridians Warily Praise Navy's Exit From Vieques, Few Protest Moving Training To State: "It's The Sound Of Freedom"
S. Floridians Warily Praise Navy's Exit From Vieques By Rafael A. Olmeda January 11, 2003 The Navy's decision to pull out of Vieques was cheered by Puerto Ricans in South Florida. But alternative sites in Florida left some wondering whether they have a new struggle on their hands. "For me, it's an issue of mixed feelings," said Raúl Duany, chairman of the Puerto Rican Professional Association of South Florida. Duany will soon be returning to a job as a spokesman for the Southern Command, which runs U.S. military operations in Latin America. "For the Navy, there was a buildup of 50 years of poor community relations and a fundamental lack of trust." The controversy surrounding the training exercise started as an argument between Vieques and the Navy, but grew into a sore point between Puerto Rico and the United States and finally was viewed as representative of a colony versus an imperialist power, Duany said. The Navy was faced with balancing the health and safety concerns of the islanders with the need for a military that is ready to face any challenge. "You have to be reasonable about it," he said. Duany ultimately opposed the Navy's presence in Vieques, but he wants its critics to acknowledge the military's conservation efforts on the island. Of 22,000 acres owned by the Navy as of 1996, 899 were used as a live bombing range. Wilfredo Morales, lead organizer of the annual Puerto Rican Day Cultural Parade in Broward County, said he wondered whether other Americans will be quick to judge Puerto Ricans when the bombing ranges are closer to their cities. "All of a sudden, it's in their back yard," said Morales, a former Marine. "It will be interesting to see how they respond. No matter what they do, whether it's Florida, Puerto Rico, or wherever, they're going to have a negative impact on the environment." Federico González, a Miami accountant, said he's pleased the bombing exercises will end, but he's also worried about the economic effects when the Navy leaves Vieques. "There is no employment there now," he said. "Without the Navy, unemployment is going to get worse." In Key West on Friday, environmental groups fretted that the exercises might harm the U.S. mainland's only coral reef, a federally protected ecosystem. "I am incredulous that they would consider areas near Key West," said DeeVon Quirolo, executive director of Reef Relief, a nonprofit group that works to preserve coral reefs. For years, Navy fighter jets have trained from aircraft carriers at a water range several miles off Key West. The sanctuary is not used for live-fire bombing exercises, and Navy officials eased some concerns on Friday by saying that is not expected to change. "It's the same training we're already doing. It will be a 20 percent increase, at very most," said Kelly Hinchey, public affairs officer for the Naval Air Facility Key West.
Moving Training To Florida Draws Few Protests By Sean Mussenden and Kevin Spear | Sentinel Staff Writers January 11, 2003
Alternative sites (ORLANDO SENTINEL) -------- Jan 11, 2003 The Navy's decision to move the bulk of training and bombing exercises from Puerto Rico to ranges across Florida attracted few protests Friday, a sharp contrast to the tidal wave of criticism that pushed the Navy out of that Caribbean island. The one major exception appeared to be in Key West, where environmental groups fretted that an increase in training activity might harm the U.S. mainland's only coral reef, a federally protected ecosystem. "I am incredulous that they would consider areas near Key West," said DeeVon Quirolo, executive director of Reef Relief, a nonprofit group that works to preserve coral reefs. With Puerto Rico's Vieques, the Navy's premier Atlantic training site, set to close in May, Navy officials announced Friday that Florida bases would play an increasingly important role in combat preparation. Live-fire bombing runs will be beefed up most at Eglin Air Force Base in the Panhandle and the Navy's Pinecastle Bombing Range in the Ocala National Forest. An Air Force land-based range in Avon Park in Polk County, and sea ranges near Pensacola, Tyndall Air Force Base, and the naval air facilities at Jacksonville and Key West will play more minor roles. For years, Navy fighter jets have trained from aircraft carriers at a water range several miles off of Key West. The sanctuary is not used for live-fire bombing exercises, and Navy officials eased some concerns Friday by saying that is not expected to change. "It's the same training we're already doing. It will be a 20 percent increase at very most," said Kelly Hinchey, public-affairs officer for the Naval Air Facility Key West. Billy Causey, superintendent of the 3,000-square-mile National Marine Sanctuary that surrounds the Florida Keys, said the Navy has indicated in informal conversations that it might use live bombs farther into the Gulf of Mexico. He also said he had been told it might simulate attacks by using lasers and dummy bombs at a site within the sanctuary. "We'll see more ship activity without a doubt," Causey said. "But I really think the Navy wants to be good neighbors." At his home in Astor, near the Pinecastle range, Jason Eplin sure hopes so. "As long as they don't miss the target, I'm fine with it," he said. But Carol Mosley, whose Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice has led protests of the bombing at the Pinecastle range, said she is baffled as to why the Navy would increase activity in a national forest when it had other options. "Dropping bombs on a military base at least makes a lot more sense," she said. For economic or patriotic reasons, few others were lining up to criticize the Navy on Friday. Gov. Jeb Bush, who had been lobbying the Navy to bring more training to Florida, said the decision will help Florida's economy as the military "enters a new round of base realignment and closure considerations and decisions in 2005." Bush's office estimates the increased training could bring in as much as $800 million in the next few years. And with the military and defense contractors pumping $30 billion a year into Florida's economy, "we're doing all we can to keep our bases in Florida," said Pamella Dana, Director of Bush's Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development. At land-based bombing ranges such as Pinecastle and Avon Park, some environmentalists suggested the military had been decent stewards. At Eglin Air Force Base, the nearly 460,000 acres serve as home to the Florida's second-largest population of red-cockaded woodpeckers, a protected species. And the Avon Park Air Force Range, covering 106,000 acres, provides critical habitat to scrub jays and grasshopper sparrows, also protected species. "We want to see the military use these places actively, because when they close they will face development pressures," said Eric Draper, a director for Audubon of Florida in Tallahassee. From her home in Navarre, a little town near the Eglin bombing range, Lynn Glossop said the noise sometimes knocks pictures off the wall. But as the United States prepares for a possible war with Iraq, more frequent bombing is not a problem with her. "It's the sound of freedom," she said.
|
--------