Military helicopters - Liberty Bell Roadless Area

What are they going to harm? Smash wild flowers? Scare a bear? Seems very harmless IMO.

Knowing that military helicopters are used in civilian rescues in the Cascades and that the US military is active in other mountainous regions around the world can you suggest better alternative sites for training helicopter pilots in mountainous terrain?  I agree that there are some serious issues to consider here but not proposing an alternative while saying no is just a NIMBY reaction.

As one of the reasons the military is proposing establishing these landings is to save money (they currently train Colorado) then yeah, I can suggest an alternative. They could save a lot of money in fuel cost and flight time by doing this closer to Lewis/MCchord, say Snoqualmie Pass area or any number of the rugged peaks and areas nearer to Lewis/MCchord than the northeast cascades.

Moving it further south toward the Snoq Pass area makes a lot of sense in terms of distance to the base but doesn't it really magnify the concerns already expressed here? I don't spend much time on the I90 corridor but it seems to be much busier than the Hwy20 corridor (hence why I don't spend much time there). Wouldn't this mean the same noise impact to a greater number of people down south? There might be an interesting study to see if the impact on wildlife would be better or worse since the wildlife down south is already impacted by people maybe the additional stress of helicopter noise would go unnoticed. Probably not.

Wouldn't this mean the same noise impact to a greater number of people down south? There might be an interesting study to see if the impact on wildlife would be better or worse since the wildlife down south is already impacted by people maybe the additional stress of helicopter noise would go unnoticed. Probably not.

Exactly why a real EIS and not a quick EA as suggested by the proponents...

Jason, I was being tongue in cheek sarcastic sorta........... I don't know what the best answer is. But I do know that in the Methow Valley we already are significantly impacted by military jets spring through fall. They are very visible and very loud and a huge pain in the ass if you value any sort of quiet while out hiking the ridge lines above the valley. Having up to seven military helicopters at a time fly through an already loud airspace is just going to add to that issue. And I do know that the Azurite Pk site is mountain goat habitat and the impacts to goats will almost certainly be significant if not severe. They don't like helicopters and they don't habituate. The site near Cooney Lk in the Sawtooths just seems dumb, right next to a popular trail and lake.

T. Eastman is right, an EIS is required and hopefully there will be enough pressure brought to require one. And hopefully the most egregious sites will be abandoned.

I might be more tolerant than most people here of the noise from military aircraft. I grew up in a Navy family, lived on or near a Navy base most of my childhood, and my parents still live directly under the flight path at NASWI. It was an everyday part of life to stop mid sentence in a conversation or phone call while planes flew over the house. I get out in the mountains to enjoy the solitude too but maybe I can tune out the Navy jets on the west side of the Cascades pretty easily.

I don't know the mountains on that side as well as I do on this side and agree with the points about picking training locations seemingly without regard to what's already going on there. I'm also not trying to justify their position, just trying to point out some of the reasoning that might have pushed them this far from JBLM. It'll be a stronger argument against them if you can justify other areas for them to use instead that still meet their criteria.

It's almost ironic to say that it spoils the wilderness experience at one of the most popular trails in the area. The solution is to send them to somewhere more remote but that interrupts the goats. Maybe the idea of Snoq Pass isn't so bad after all. Not so good for those who don't get far from the city but better for the critters.