Bombs and bighorns: military uses

A metal dart (above) towed by a warplane as target for live-fire,
air-to-air combat training, punctures the floor of Cabeza Prieta
National Wildlife Refuge in the Sonoran Desert of southwestern
Arizona, set aside in 1939 for desert bighorn sheep and Sonoran
pronghorn. Cabeza Prieta is the largest wilderness refuge in the
lower 48 states, with 860,000 acres (348,000 hectares) placed
off-limits to development. But the protected land lies adjacent
to the immense Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range, where low-level
training flights of military aircraft send sonic booms through
the hills and valleys, shaking the countryside.
The airspace over Cabeza Prieta is controlled by both Luke Air
Force Base near Phoenix and the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma,
and their use of this wildlife refuge is the result of an agreement
between the Departments of Transportation, Defense, and Interior.
Bizarre? But Bob Schumacher, manager of the refuge, sees both
sides of the issue. The military serves as a bufferthats
why things have really gotten better, he says. If
Barry Goldwater ceased to exist, the impact could be devastating.
The lands could fall to multiple users.
Its not that Schumacher believes that planes are good
for wildlife. We dont know the impact of the noise,
he says, but a big sonic boom can literally blow your
socks off. Were large mammals. Do we know if, because
of the sound of large cities, our lives have been shortened? Scientific
studies do show stress, and they show recovery. The question is,
what does that mean? I do not expect to see it resolved in the
near future.
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