[CPEO-MEF] Marines worry environmentalists to use old law to limit training

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Marines worry environmentalists will use old law to limit needed
training on bombing range outside Yuma; environmentalist says White
House is the problem, not the Marines
By T.M. Shultz
Oct 27, 2002

Which is worth more ? saving lives or saving a few birds?

It's a question Congress is grappling with as the country's war on
terrorism begins its seemingly inevitable march from Afghanistan to
Iraq.

Marine Corps officials here in Yuma say all they're asking for are some
common-sense clarifications to the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act and
five other environmental laws that stand in the way of effective
training.

Environmentalists say the military, particularly the Marine Corps, isn't
to blame. It's being used by its civilian bosses from the Bush
administration to help push through a wholesale retreat from needed
environmental protections.

"We feel that the military has been reaching out to the conservation
community for years to try to build alliances and help people understand
the value of environmentalism," said Peter Galvin, conservation
biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity.

Now, he said, all the good will built up by the Marine Corps could
disappear because of the politicians who run the armed services.

"They're going to set back the conservation community's relationship
with the military by 20 years," Galvin said.

In a recent telephone interview, Galvin told The Sun he sees no problems
with the Marine Corps' management of the Barry M. Goldwater Range east
of Yuma.

Marines have a reputation as being more "green" than the other military
services, Galvin said, and he agrees that they have long gone out of
their way to accommodate environmental concerns.

"Unfortunately, under the Bush administration what we've seen is a
mean-spirited assault on environmental laws, using ? we feel
inappropriately ? hot-button issues such as national security to sway
people into believing that environmental laws have to be weakened in
order for our country to be safe and secure," Galvin said.

This article can be viewed at:
http://yumasun.com/artman/publish/print/printer_2364.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~