Dear Chief Tidwell, Mr. Bonnie, and USFS staff,
I am gravely concerned about your upcoming decision regarding whether to permit the Navy to practice warfare using electromagnetic weaponry over the Olympic Peninsula. I have read the Navy's EA and have attended the public meetings in which the Navy answered questions from local citizens about their plan.
The magnitude of the consequences of this decision are such that it should not be made by your agency alone. This issue should be brought before the greater American public. The range will not only destroy the beloved Crown Jewel of America's National Parks, it will seriously jeopardize citizens' health and that of wildlife. It is therefore a national, and international, public health issue of great magnitude.
Hear this clearly from the tens of thousands that have signed the petition protesting this permit: Our National Parks and Forests are highly inappropriate places to practice Electromagnetic Warfare. Establishing a range here now, and later 'mitigating' the noise and radiation issues, is not acceptable.
When the greater American public becomes fully informed about this issue, there is no doubt they will be in full agreement with this position. Here is why:
Navy representatives have publicly denied that "jamming of signals" would ever be used on the Range. The word used was "never". However, the permit actually will allow jamming to be practiced, as it permits the Range "to accommodate all future training needs." In a previous public document, the Navy defined all "future training needs" as specifically including "the jamming of signals."
The core technology of Electromagnetic Warfare Training is this very "jamming of signals". If the pilots are not going to ever do it here, then why would the Navy spend over $11 million in taxpayer dollars establishing a warfare range .... a range that that would not legally allow our pilots to be properly trained?
Needless to say, this makes no sense!
The "Electronic Attack" EA-18 Growler jets were specifically designed to jam signals. Indeed, according to Boeing commercials, jamming is their 'primary mission'.
Boeing: EA-18G Growler
http://www.boeing.com/...
Boeing: Staying Off the Radar
http://www.boeing.com/...
This is not some sort of game, despite the upbeat music and references to football. We, as responsible citizens and public servants, need to ask ourselves the very serious, and deeply troubling, question:
Is it morally ethical to subject people to this kind of dangerous weaponry without their knowledge or consent?
This Navy article was emailed to a former NY times journalist and science writer who specializes in Electromagnetic Fields research, asking advice about the EMFs that would be used in the Navy's plan for a Training Range:
Navy Forges New EW Strategy
http://breakingdefense.com/...
The reply received:
"I read the Breaking Defense link...you've got a whole other thing brewing there. You need to focus on getting this whole program far away from where people/wildlife live and onto some already established military training grounds. Clearly they are moving in very small innocuous increments like the EA for roads only... The Forestry Service needs to understand what's behind this curtain and your community needs to get it into the written record before the comment period closes. You need much clearer information re: what this entire buildout will be, what frequencies used and at what strengths, not just from ground transmitters but also from the planes. Jammers are a whole other thing. Those will create strong EMF's in the radar ranges and signals will likely be more scattered than the emitters. "
The concern is this:
Once the Navy gets this long-term special permit form the USFS, this harmful radiation from jamming will be used, and it will be too late for the American public to stop it, regulate it, or even know that it is being used.
This is why thousands of citizens hold that establishing a range first, and then mitigating later, is NOT an option.
When asked about "accountability for public safety", in public meetings the Navy stated that they are accountable only to themselves. They offer no apologies. They expect to be trusted on their claims. They are also legally allowed to "break the rules" to test equipment. This disturbing short video of a public "informational meeting" with Navy officials demonstrates how poorly the Navy "works with communities" when complaints about their activities arise:
https://vimeo.com/...
Federal law (NEPA) requires that all future phases of a project be fully disclosed to the public before any permits are given. The Navy has not provided any information about these future phases or the levels of radiation that will be used in their plan.
The question remains: Will the millions of visitors to the Park and people that live in these areas unknowingly be subjected to this dangerous radiation for years to come?
The powerful beams of EM radiation from jamming will be continuously shooting down towards the earth... INTO the landscape, people and wildlife below. John Moser, spokesman for the project, has assured the public that the radiation "will be no more dangerous than a cell tower. " Yet, the latest science has unequivocally proven that the current levels of EMF's from cell towers causes serious health issues for humans and are harmful to the environment.
According to current data and research, man-made EMFs, even at extremely low levels, disrupt biological processes on a cellular level. Top scientists and public health officials from around the world have predicted that electromagnetic radiation will be THE major health issue of the future, costing nations billions of dollars in healthcare, precisely because of the inability to protect ourselves from EMFs from cell towers and wireless devices.
In July 2013 India's Supreme Court, after reviewing world-wide scientific data, upheld a decision to remove all cell towers from the vicinity of schools, hospitals, colleges and playgrounds because of their radiation, which was described as "hazardous to life".
I request that you and your team read this article and view this lecture before you make any kind of decision concerning the safety of this type of weaponry in our National Parks and Forests:
Documents Show Navy's Electromagnetic Warfare Training Would Harm Humans and Wildlife
http://www.truth-out.org/...
Prof. Martin Pall - How WiFi & other EMFs Cause Biological Harm - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/...
Only after the latest current science is thoroughly reviewed should we decide whether exposure to this Electromagnetic Radiation is safe for the public. Please read additional science links below from leading prestigious medical universities on the subject before you make any decision regarding its safety. A "no" to this proposal is a "yes" to the sacredness of life; it will protect millions of people from being subjected to this radiation without their knowledge or consent.
Two solutions to maintaining national security and keeping the public safe from this harmful EMF radiation:
Option #1
Continue doing these dangerous warfare practices at the Training Range the Navy currently uses. It is located in Mountain Home, Idaho, which adds only fifteen minutes to the pilot's commute time. Or, use another existing range. Many of DoD's ranges are under-utilized.
Option #2
Develop a proposal to do these practices out over the ocean, as was suggested by an engineer in a public meeting. The Navy's reply to his suggestion: " We hadn't thought of that." This answer is unacceptable. NEPA requires that all viable alternatives be fully researched and presented to the public for review.
By choosing either one of these reasonable solutions, the DoD would responsibly meet our national security needs without sacrificing the health and safety of millions of citizens that annually visit Olympic National Park and Forest for their family vacations.
They will also be respecting our democratic rights. These Public Lands belong to the American people, and our government is a democracy, which means:
of the people, by the people, and for the people.
The Department of Defense's concern about possible future wars with China or North Korea is understandable, but it does not justify converting our National Park and Forest to a dangerous warzone and risk destroying them and citizens' health. These lands do NOT belong to the DoD or to the US Government for their own use.
The individuals in the DoD who are pushing this plan need to be reminded by your agency to honor the principles on which our democracy was founded. Otherwise they desecrate our American flag, and undermine the very democracy they claim to defend. They need to be reminded of the words of three great American Presidents, and that they are employed by the people, to be of service to our democracy, rather than threaten it.
JAMES MADISON: (regarded as the father of the US Constitution and primary author of our Bill of Rights)
"If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger --- real or pretended --- from abroad."
DWIGHT EISENHOWER:
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwanted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist."
GEORGE WASHINGTON:
"Overgrown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty."
The DoD has underestimated how much Americans deeply love, and need, their National Parks and Forests. We will defend them fiercely. They are an important part of our national identity and for many of us, represent the best of this country.
FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT:
"There is nothing so American as our National Parks. It is, in brief, that the country belongs to the people, that it is in the process of making for the enrichment of the lives of all of us, the Parks stand as the outward symbol of the great human principle."
USFS Chief Tom Tidwell is in agreement: Last year in a public address honoring the Wilderness Act, he stated that the we, the American people, as stewards of our public lands, "will face challenges associated with its use". He reminded us that these lands belong to all Americans, and said:
"As Americans we have an obligation to preserve our wilderness heritage for generations to come."
We who signed this petition of protest to the Range are doing just that.
When the US Army wanted to use part of Yosemite National Park for a bombing range during WWII, the people protested. In his decision, President Roosevelt sided with the wildlife, and affirmed the need to protect our National Parks from military use. He stated:
"The verdict is for the trumpeter swan and against the army. The army will have to find another nesting place."
Please also tell the DoD to "find another nesting place". That should not be too difficult, as they possess millions of acres given to them for just this type of dangerous practice. It is federal law that they use them, before even considering using America's public lands.
Signers of the petition recognize that national security needs and the need to protect the environment can both be met. This was demonstrated by the recent agreement which NRDC and the Navy reached after years of litigation: The Navy finally will protect whales from their sonar in the Pacific Ocean.
Matt Knight, Navy spokesman:
"The Navy is recognizing our environmental responsibilities; The Navy has been and will continue to be good environmental stewards as we prepare for and conduct missions in support of our national security."
If your agency denies this permit, it will save our valuable taxpayer dollars from becoming tied up in expensive lawsuits.
If you decide to give the green light to this plan, your action may very well be a decision that this country, and the world, will deeply regret for generations to come.
Pat Johnson
EMF Effect on amphibians:
http://www.ct.gov/...
EMF Effect on human health:
BioInitiative Report: A Rationale for a Biologically-based Public Exposure Standard for Electromagnetic Fields (ELF and RF)
http://www.bioinitiative.org/...
Towards Better Health: Presentation by Dr. Olle Johansson on the Issue of Electromagnetic Radiation - Barcelona, November 2013
http://mieuxprevenir.blogspot.com/...