Dave Krall CFII
Final Approach
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2005
- Messages
- 5,022
- Location
- Seattle WA
- Display Name
Display name:
Dave Krall CFII SEL SES, Cmcl HELI
RE: "Arizona Strip" Airstrip Trailheads need pilot's help NOW.
Thanks a lot to all you pilots that have some vision and take a minute to help GA with this before Mar. 17th!
Even a one-liner comment against closures can help these
AIRSTRIP TRAILHEADS and others in our own states as well, addressed to:
Arizona_Strip@blm.gov
An issues background letter and list of points in pilot's favor follows below and makes good reading for ALL airport users.
The outcomes of these battles ultimately affects all of us GA pilots. We really need a unified, nationwide response to this common threat as the individual state organizations are simply not strong enough.
Almost all of us has dreamed of flying into a picturesque backcountry airstrip ourselves or of having some other pilot fly us in or show us the procedures. So let's see if we can keep our unique national treasures so that they'll be there for us pilots when we're ready to see them.
Thanks Again,
Dave Krall CFII, pres. MountainFlyingVideos.com
UBCP Officers <mailer@utahbackcountrypilots.org> wrote:
Thanks a lot to all you pilots that have some vision and take a minute to help GA with this before Mar. 17th!
Even a one-liner comment against closures can help these
AIRSTRIP TRAILHEADS and others in our own states as well, addressed to:
Arizona_Strip@blm.gov
An issues background letter and list of points in pilot's favor follows below and makes good reading for ALL airport users.
The outcomes of these battles ultimately affects all of us GA pilots. We really need a unified, nationwide response to this common threat as the individual state organizations are simply not strong enough.
Almost all of us has dreamed of flying into a picturesque backcountry airstrip ourselves or of having some other pilot fly us in or show us the procedures. So let's see if we can keep our unique national treasures so that they'll be there for us pilots when we're ready to see them.
Thanks Again,
Dave Krall CFII, pres. MountainFlyingVideos.com
UBCP Officers <mailer@utahbackcountrypilots.org> wrote:
From: UBCP Officers <mailer@utahbackcountrypilots.org>
To: Dave Krall <pilotdjk@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:18:49 GMT
Subject: Arizona Strip airstrips need our help.
UBCP Members,
As you may know, the back country landing strips in what is commonly called the "Arizona Strip" are in jeopardy of being closed. This area is now part of the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. This new National Monument was created in January, 2000 by Presidential Proclamation and is to be managed jointly by the National Park Service and the BLM.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement that will become the management plan for the Parashant Monument has been released. Concerning aviation, the EIS is recommending that no back country landing strips be allowed. The EIS also recommends that existing back country strips within the monument be destroyed. This will include Imlay, Pakoon, and Grand Gulch.
UBCP member Hal Hilburn in St. George has spent many hours researching the draft EIS. Hal has provided an extensive list of arguments as to why aviation is not harmful and is a legitimate activity in the monument. We have included Hal's list below.
The comment period for the EIS ends on 17 Mar. 2006. The BLM and NPS will review all public comments before implementing a final management plan. We encourage all pilots who are interested in preserving these historic landing strips to comment either via letter or e-mail.
Comments should be addressed to:
Planning Team, Arizona Strip District
345 East Riverside Drive
St. George, UT 84790
E-Mail comments to: Arizona_Strip@blm.gov FAX comments to: (435)688-3388
We owe Hal a big thanks for all of the time he has spent researching the new monument. Hal truly loves these landing strips more than anyone we know. Below is Hal's report and points that you may consider when commenting on the EIS:
1. Pilots are legitimate users of public lands just like hikers, jeepers, and horseman.
2. Airplanes have the least impact of any vehicle for visiting public lands. They have no driven wheels and they never leave the “trail”.
3. Airstrips should be considered as internal “Trailheads” where the pilot users access hiking, camping, exploring, viewing nature, studying geology, archeology, history and culture among other things. (Consider the airstrips as the trail heads for back country aviation destinations
4. Preserve and protect the airstrips just like any other established trail head.
5. Back country aviators are the prime example of Camping “ Leave No Trace”
6. Airstrips do not erode like roads. They are essentially grassy spots that are level and have similar vegetative cover to the surrounding land. They are invisible from near view and are no more apparent than a road. There are 1582 miles of roads included in the preferred alternative and open roads are adjacent to all of the airstrips.
7. Aircraft are not in the same class and category as OHV, they are only mechanized on the ground, not motorized.
8. Most of the airstrips with recreational value have been in existence longer than most of the roads and certainly longer that features used by most other current forms of recreation. Some of the airstrip sites in the Arizona Strip are so old and historic, that it is amazing that they weren’t mentioned in the DEIS as sensitive Sites. The Grand Gulch Mine is a perfect example. Historical documents show that mine rails were flown to the Copper Mountain Mine strip from the old Grand Gulch Mine Strip in the 1940’s.
9. Hundreds of airstrips exist on lands containing “wilderness character” in both designated and undesignated wilderness areas, National Parks and Monuments. 19 airstrips were included in the Central Idaho Wilderness Act of 1984 after they had been in use as long 25 years, and now, 22 years later, they show that they have had no adverse affect on the lands and ecosystems that they occupy.
10. Monument managers might be preparing for a 10% population growth per year in the St. George by 2025 with the commensurate rise in use of the monument, but General Aviation is only projected to grow by 3.4% per year in the St. George area and most of this growth is due to aircraft that would never visit the Monument (Business aircraft). Therefore back country airstrip users are not BLM’s problem user group.
11. Pilots who visit these “Trailheads” by small plane are afforded a sense of accomplishment and well-being in their lives that reflects positively on the households and communities.
12. Pilots, as a user group of public lands, are the most responsible, and the most regulated of any user group. They personally undergo physicals and their aircraft have yearly maintenance inspections. They are also subject to regular flight tests and reviews. Few flyers would ever consider including alcohol along with their outings to the back country, while other user groups include alcohol as a matter of course.
13. Airplanes of all categories will be present over the monument at all times from trans-continental flights to small private airplanes traveling between Salt Lake and Phoenix or Las Vegas to Albuquerque.
Backcountry pilots are just asking for a place to stop and camp.
14. Unlike all other types of motorized visitor, the backcountry airstrip visitor is not there to fly. We shut off our engines during our stay, unlike other visitors who are allowed to access the exact same piece of ground by road, and whose recreation centers around the use of their vehicles. Over flights of the Monument by aircraft are not addressed in the DEIS, but recreational opportunities for pilots while at the airstrip when the engine is off, are not currently allowed in the preferred alternative.
15. I quote from the BLM, “Recreation opportunities abound that produce a variety of personal, familial, community, economic, and environmental benefits from visitors enjoying outdoor experiences while engaged in activities such as hiking, biking, backpacking, camping, sight-seeing, driving for pleasure, hunting, wildlife viewing, geo-caching, and OHV driving on designated routes.” Flying as a means of conveyance to do these activities is just as legitimate as any other.
16. Backcountry airstrips take almost no money to maintain in the rustic condition desired by most city-stressed pilots seeking an opportunity to experience adventure, a sense of discovery, and a retreat from the pressures of modern life. With the millions of dollars spent on infrastructure for other means of conveyance within the Monument, it seems like an unfair situation for the BLM to ignore one of the Monuments first and most historic means of travel—small airplanes.
17. No accumulative effects occur from aircraft landing and camping on surrounding vegetation, animal life on public resources.
18. Include airstrip in the Recreational Management Zones already established to near by roads.
19. The airstrips offer remote secure access to primitive activities.
20. Airstrips ensure safety zones to commuting aircraft traveling along the north boundary of the Grand Canyon.
21. Airstrips are often used a search and rescue hubs for health and safety issues.
22. Arriving and departing aircraft all have VHF Radios to communicate emergency needs, such as fire, search, and rescue operation.
23. Arriving aircraft serve non-commercial uses
24. Aircraft have the option of over flight prior to use and landing, thus establishing a safe choice of landing strip location and conditions.
25. The grooming and tools used in maintaining airstrips coincided with current BLM Land management practices.
26. Propose a list of airstrips to be placed on the register of historic places to insure they will be kept and managed in the their current available conditions.
27. Aviation access offer a overhead security system to proved fast and accurate information to and from some very remote area in the need of an emergency
28. The BLM recreational system recognizes the draw to some risk in adventure, such as rock climbing, repelling, exploring, gathering of ecological, scientific information, and historical data.
29. The issue of public liability in not supported... the BLM does not require ANY Assurances that vehicle operation on public lands are safe, license, or insured. All aircraft in operation are registered, licensed, and insured. There have been NO cases of the public being sued because of a pilot having a mishap on the public property....
30. The government also uses aircraft in and around the vicinity of the current airstrip scattered around the Arizona Strip Region.
31. Aircraft engines are shut down after landing and do not return to service until a departure is attempted. No noise or power source is emitted from an aircraft parked on the ground.
32. The BLM does not currently have a campaign ongoing to remove parking areas, pull outs, and camping location within the Arizona Strip Desert System. Why would they now launch a effort to do so against aviation needs?
33. Aviation is an irrefutable means of transportation.
34. No budget funds are required to maintain these desert strips in a safe condition. Prior adopt a highway programs are similar to the of the Back Country Aviation Group maintaining the airstrips.
[FONT=arial, helvetica]You have received this e-mail because
you are a member of the
Utah Back County Pilots Association.[/FONT]
To: Dave Krall <pilotdjk@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2006 20:18:49 GMT
Subject: Arizona Strip airstrips need our help.
UBCP Members,
As you may know, the back country landing strips in what is commonly called the "Arizona Strip" are in jeopardy of being closed. This area is now part of the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. This new National Monument was created in January, 2000 by Presidential Proclamation and is to be managed jointly by the National Park Service and the BLM.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement that will become the management plan for the Parashant Monument has been released. Concerning aviation, the EIS is recommending that no back country landing strips be allowed. The EIS also recommends that existing back country strips within the monument be destroyed. This will include Imlay, Pakoon, and Grand Gulch.
UBCP member Hal Hilburn in St. George has spent many hours researching the draft EIS. Hal has provided an extensive list of arguments as to why aviation is not harmful and is a legitimate activity in the monument. We have included Hal's list below.
The comment period for the EIS ends on 17 Mar. 2006. The BLM and NPS will review all public comments before implementing a final management plan. We encourage all pilots who are interested in preserving these historic landing strips to comment either via letter or e-mail.
Comments should be addressed to:
Planning Team, Arizona Strip District
345 East Riverside Drive
St. George, UT 84790
E-Mail comments to: Arizona_Strip@blm.gov FAX comments to: (435)688-3388
We owe Hal a big thanks for all of the time he has spent researching the new monument. Hal truly loves these landing strips more than anyone we know. Below is Hal's report and points that you may consider when commenting on the EIS:
1. Pilots are legitimate users of public lands just like hikers, jeepers, and horseman.
2. Airplanes have the least impact of any vehicle for visiting public lands. They have no driven wheels and they never leave the “trail”.
3. Airstrips should be considered as internal “Trailheads” where the pilot users access hiking, camping, exploring, viewing nature, studying geology, archeology, history and culture among other things. (Consider the airstrips as the trail heads for back country aviation destinations
4. Preserve and protect the airstrips just like any other established trail head.
5. Back country aviators are the prime example of Camping “ Leave No Trace”
6. Airstrips do not erode like roads. They are essentially grassy spots that are level and have similar vegetative cover to the surrounding land. They are invisible from near view and are no more apparent than a road. There are 1582 miles of roads included in the preferred alternative and open roads are adjacent to all of the airstrips.
7. Aircraft are not in the same class and category as OHV, they are only mechanized on the ground, not motorized.
8. Most of the airstrips with recreational value have been in existence longer than most of the roads and certainly longer that features used by most other current forms of recreation. Some of the airstrip sites in the Arizona Strip are so old and historic, that it is amazing that they weren’t mentioned in the DEIS as sensitive Sites. The Grand Gulch Mine is a perfect example. Historical documents show that mine rails were flown to the Copper Mountain Mine strip from the old Grand Gulch Mine Strip in the 1940’s.
9. Hundreds of airstrips exist on lands containing “wilderness character” in both designated and undesignated wilderness areas, National Parks and Monuments. 19 airstrips were included in the Central Idaho Wilderness Act of 1984 after they had been in use as long 25 years, and now, 22 years later, they show that they have had no adverse affect on the lands and ecosystems that they occupy.
10. Monument managers might be preparing for a 10% population growth per year in the St. George by 2025 with the commensurate rise in use of the monument, but General Aviation is only projected to grow by 3.4% per year in the St. George area and most of this growth is due to aircraft that would never visit the Monument (Business aircraft). Therefore back country airstrip users are not BLM’s problem user group.
11. Pilots who visit these “Trailheads” by small plane are afforded a sense of accomplishment and well-being in their lives that reflects positively on the households and communities.
12. Pilots, as a user group of public lands, are the most responsible, and the most regulated of any user group. They personally undergo physicals and their aircraft have yearly maintenance inspections. They are also subject to regular flight tests and reviews. Few flyers would ever consider including alcohol along with their outings to the back country, while other user groups include alcohol as a matter of course.
13. Airplanes of all categories will be present over the monument at all times from trans-continental flights to small private airplanes traveling between Salt Lake and Phoenix or Las Vegas to Albuquerque.
Backcountry pilots are just asking for a place to stop and camp.
14. Unlike all other types of motorized visitor, the backcountry airstrip visitor is not there to fly. We shut off our engines during our stay, unlike other visitors who are allowed to access the exact same piece of ground by road, and whose recreation centers around the use of their vehicles. Over flights of the Monument by aircraft are not addressed in the DEIS, but recreational opportunities for pilots while at the airstrip when the engine is off, are not currently allowed in the preferred alternative.
15. I quote from the BLM, “Recreation opportunities abound that produce a variety of personal, familial, community, economic, and environmental benefits from visitors enjoying outdoor experiences while engaged in activities such as hiking, biking, backpacking, camping, sight-seeing, driving for pleasure, hunting, wildlife viewing, geo-caching, and OHV driving on designated routes.” Flying as a means of conveyance to do these activities is just as legitimate as any other.
16. Backcountry airstrips take almost no money to maintain in the rustic condition desired by most city-stressed pilots seeking an opportunity to experience adventure, a sense of discovery, and a retreat from the pressures of modern life. With the millions of dollars spent on infrastructure for other means of conveyance within the Monument, it seems like an unfair situation for the BLM to ignore one of the Monuments first and most historic means of travel—small airplanes.
17. No accumulative effects occur from aircraft landing and camping on surrounding vegetation, animal life on public resources.
18. Include airstrip in the Recreational Management Zones already established to near by roads.
19. The airstrips offer remote secure access to primitive activities.
20. Airstrips ensure safety zones to commuting aircraft traveling along the north boundary of the Grand Canyon.
21. Airstrips are often used a search and rescue hubs for health and safety issues.
22. Arriving and departing aircraft all have VHF Radios to communicate emergency needs, such as fire, search, and rescue operation.
23. Arriving aircraft serve non-commercial uses
24. Aircraft have the option of over flight prior to use and landing, thus establishing a safe choice of landing strip location and conditions.
25. The grooming and tools used in maintaining airstrips coincided with current BLM Land management practices.
26. Propose a list of airstrips to be placed on the register of historic places to insure they will be kept and managed in the their current available conditions.
27. Aviation access offer a overhead security system to proved fast and accurate information to and from some very remote area in the need of an emergency
28. The BLM recreational system recognizes the draw to some risk in adventure, such as rock climbing, repelling, exploring, gathering of ecological, scientific information, and historical data.
29. The issue of public liability in not supported... the BLM does not require ANY Assurances that vehicle operation on public lands are safe, license, or insured. All aircraft in operation are registered, licensed, and insured. There have been NO cases of the public being sued because of a pilot having a mishap on the public property....
30. The government also uses aircraft in and around the vicinity of the current airstrip scattered around the Arizona Strip Region.
31. Aircraft engines are shut down after landing and do not return to service until a departure is attempted. No noise or power source is emitted from an aircraft parked on the ground.
32. The BLM does not currently have a campaign ongoing to remove parking areas, pull outs, and camping location within the Arizona Strip Desert System. Why would they now launch a effort to do so against aviation needs?
33. Aviation is an irrefutable means of transportation.
34. No budget funds are required to maintain these desert strips in a safe condition. Prior adopt a highway programs are similar to the of the Back Country Aviation Group maintaining the airstrips.
you are a member of the
Utah Back County Pilots Association.[/FONT]
Last edited:
