Low-Level Bomber Training
Opponents Seek Out Stenholm

ABILENE —(AP)— Farmers and ranchers opposed to an Air Force plan that would allow B-1 bombers just hundreds of feet above their property are taking their complaints to U.S. Rep. Charles Stenholm.

Members of a group that calls itself the Heritage-Environmental Preservation Association claim the bombings will poison the ground with jet fuel and cause noise pollution throughout West Texas.

Some said they believe that Stenholm, D-Texas, who for 20 years has represented the district that includes Dyess Air Force Base at Abilene, has the political clout to pressure the Air Force into rethinking the plan.

Douglas Thompson, executive director of HEPA, said he and other members of the group met last week with Stenholm to test the waters on the issue and complain about the Air Force's decision to hold a public hearing scheduled for April 7 in the lunch/multipurpose room at Snyder High School.

``Its capacity is 100 to 150 people. Based on what we know, this location is in a remote part of the school and has no parking. We are upset that the Air Force is intentionally making it difficult for people to express their concerns and opposition to this plan,'' Thompson said.

``If the purpose of this meeting is to hear citizens' concerns, this venue makes it difficult for people to be a part of the hearing process.''

Stenholm agreed to suggest that the hearing should be held in a larger area, saying ``the auditorium would be a better location.''

But he said he will wait for the Air Force to release an environmental impact statement before forming a final opinion on the issue. The final statement is due in April.

``I have taken the consistent position that there is a proposal and that there are definite steps in evaluating the proposal,'' Stenholm said. ``When the environmental impact statement is available, we'll all have 60 days to decide what should or should not happen.''

Officials of Dyess Air Force Base did not return calls by The Associated Press for comment.

The Air Force announced plans last year to enact a Realistic Bomber Training Initiative, which could have B-1 and B-52 bombers flying sorties, some as low as 300 feet, in West Texas or northeastern New Mexico as early as October 2001.

The training missions would fly over a 50-mile by 100-mile stretch of West Texas covering eight counties — Lynn, Garza, Kent, Stonewall, Dawson, Borden, Scurry and Fisher — covering most of the area between Abilene and Lubbock.

The bombers could also fly near the Big Spring area, southwest of the eight-county block. The Federal Aviation Administration must approve airspace for the Air Force's plan, but the Air Force itself can essentially approve all other aspects of the initiative.

Stenholm said people may have jumped to conclusions about how harmful the bomber training would be.

``The proposition will not place flight patterns over areas that will have major activity,'' Stenholm said. ``We have a lot of space in Texas and New Mexico.''

Thompson disagrees.

``This training site is not just another little site,'' Thompson said. ``If it goes through over our area, it would be one of the largest bomber training sites in the country, with thousands of flights per year.''