Last week, my husband and I visited Kalaloch within Olympic National Park where I have enjoyed the quiet beauty of an unspoiled natural environment for over sixty years.
However, this was our first visit when the Navy’s FA-18 Growler aircraft were conducting training missions up and down the coast, pursuant to a three-year, 2017 U.S. Forest Service permit.
The extremely loud, low-frequency vibrations of the Growlers, which make overflights up to 16 hours a day, 260 days a year, degrade the experience of the west side of the Olympic Peninsula.
I understand the importance of military aircraft and their training needs.
However, the Navy’s Environmental Impact Statement does not provide any legitimate reason that the training cannot occur in an area designated for warfare training.
The Olympic National Park is not a warfare training ground; it is a refuge for people who seek peace and renewal.
Growlers thundering overhead make such an experience impossible and threaten the health and well-being of those who live on the coast.
The deadline to submit a comment to the Navy on its proposed five-year extension of the permit to perform warfare training over Olympic National Forest/Park is June 12, 2019.
Comments can be submitted at www.nwtteis.com, or mailed to Naval Facilities Engineering Command NW, NWTT Supplemental EIS/OEIS Project Manager, 3730 N. Charles Porter Ave., Building 385 Admin. Room 216, Oak Harbor, WA 98278-5000.
Katherine Kennedy,
Port Angeles