ON THE SOAPBOX:

Wrong on So Many Levels

Let’s start with "why?"

So, "where" does the Navy want to build this practice landing strip? On water? Certainly not.

On land. (Of course.) Stable, never-moving, flat as a table... land.

And what land have they chosen? Fifty square miles in the middle of fertile wheat- and vegetable-producing North Carolina—right next to a bird sanctuary to which 80,000 snow geese and thousands of Tundra Swans migrate from Greenland and Alaska, respectively, every winter.

Joe Albea, who was interviewed for the piece by Shogren, noted that the Tundra Swans can weigh up to 24 pounds; and Bunny Sanders, who spoke in opposition to the airfield at a public meeting, noted that these birds have 7-foot wingspans. (Think of that crashing into the jet engine of a plane going supersonic speeds!)

Of course, this massive population of massive birds does not worry the Navy. Apparently, if all else fails—e.g., if taking away their food source, shooting off cannons, and chasing the birds with dogs fails—then the Navy is prepared to poison them. (How’s that for an "inconvenient truth"?)

If that were not enough, the land the Navy plans to claim as their own belongs to small working farmers to whom it has belonged for centuries. And the little town of Plymouth and the Pocosin National Wildlife Refuge that surround it rely on the nature lovers and birders who come every year to see the magnificent display.

So... obviously... The town doesn’t want it. The bird sanctuary doesn’t want it. The farmers don’t want it. The two senators and the governor of North Carolina have said "no." Even the the Federal Fish and Wildlife Service opposes it. But, according to the report, the Navy is "weighing all comments."

Un-be-lieve-a-ble! What is there to weigh? It’s plainly a stupid idea.

The Navy wants to disrupt the ecology of the migratory birds, the economy of the town, and possibly put pilots in danger by creating an airfield that in no way simulates the environment they say they’re training their pilots for.

If it weren’t so tragic, it would be a comedy skit on "Saturday Night Live."

If they want to simulate the deck of an aircraft carrier, I suggest they find a piece of the Atlantic that no one’s using and build a platform. Or, better yet, call up Steve Jobs and ask him to create a simulator—which would do a much better job at training and not risk the life of one pilot or one bird.

I urge you to email your senators and congressmen, and, spend the stamp to write Dr. Donald C. Winter, Secretary of the Navy, 1000 Navy Pentagon, Washington, D.C. 20350-1000. Support the little town of Plymouth, NC. Tell the powers-that-be that you don’t want your tax money spent to destroy a community and an entire migratory bird population for a useless airfield.