Activists want new biological opinion set
Fri, 04/22/2011 - 12:11am
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Herald/Review
TUCSON — A lawyer for environmental activists wants a federal judge to order two U.S. agencies — The Fish and Wildlife Service and the Army — to renegotiate a biological opinion concerning the San Pedro River and its environs contending the two entities have failed to follow the Endangered Species Act.
The plaintiff’s attorney, McCrystie Adams, said the continuing growth in the Sierra Vista area is caused by the existence of Fort Huachuca and as more people come to the area, they “are draining the aquifer year after year.”
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Is Independent serious? Close the fort so SV can evolve? If Fort Huachuca closes SV will evolve, right into a ghost town. What viable industry in and around SV DOESN’T rely on the base in some way? Not only would SV die off, but so would the other small towns around here. Who do you think supports places like Bisbee and Tombstone? I would venture a guess that 60-70% (if not more) of the people visiting those towns are in the area because of the Fort, whether living here or visiting those who do live here. To call your idea shortsighted doesn’t adequately describe such a ludicrous and ignorant point of view.
What about the flow of water from Mexico? Has this ever been addressed? From what I understand their is a mining opertation south of the border that uses a lot of water from the river before the river gets to AZ.
How about the invasive cottonwood trees that suck up hundreds of gallons a day? - Cut them down, oh, no it’s a bird sanctuary!! The birds will survive and use other trees. It’s the water, not the cottonwood trees, that attracts the birds.
The base has gone to waterless urinals as well as artificial turf for all its sportsfields. With all the growth in Sierra Vista SINCE 1995, water consumption has been REDUCED since ‘95 (according to previous articles I’ve read).
If the city was serious about reducing water, all new homes would be required to have water cisterns on the property.
Maybe you should take a drive to Ajo and see how that community "evolved" after the primary employer left town.
You might come face to face with reality.
If you don’t like living close to the fort, move to Tombstone or Bisbee.
Instead of the fort, let’s build a nuclear power plant or maybe an oil refinery. Would that make them happy?
The fort was here before any of the surrounding community. Many people who live here were drawn here by the climate, the presence of the fort had nothing to do with their arrival.
What kind of river flow was present when the first troopers arrived? I’m sure the water flowing from the mountain was the reason the fort was located where it was. Are the "activists" going to furnish documentation on how much water is being drawn from private wells?
If the presence of the fort was an annoyance to the "activists" why didn’t they settle somewhere else?
Another case of people building near an airport and then wanting the airport to close up shop.
Easy to blame the fort while avoiding the obvious solution. It’s the greedy land developers putting pressure on local government to allow them to exploit the land. Put a cap on building and the water issue will go away.R
Tree huggers are a pain in the butt to everyone. Why dont we just tell them to go away. They have caused more price hikes on everything and they worry about things that will never happen. Quit wasting taxpayers money please!
We need to drastically cut the military budget and one good place to start is closing Fort Huachuca. I’d rather have the San Pedro River flowing, along with all the wildlife dependent upon it, than this ugly monstrosity in our midst. We spend over a trillion dollars a year on the military and they haven’t "won" a war since WWII. They sure aren’t winning in Iraq or Afghanistan (like Vietnam and Korea) and we could get rid of so many old military retards (oops retirees) at the same time and diversify this economy here and in the state.
I see a lot of good answers to some of your misconceptions. I have suggestion: maybe someday you should learn the real truth about Viet Nam.
Only a fool who has not lived in Sierra Vista all their life would make such a foolish statement as to close Ft. Huachuca. WITHOUT the Fort, Sierra Vista would cease to exist!