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Residents press Air Force on land

They are interested in knowing what is really going on in Area 51, the classified base that some say tests new military equipment.

They want access to the sacred burial sites of the Western Shoshone nation.

And they are sick of supersonic airspace in Southern Nevada.

"I'm so tired of going to Goldfield and having these retired people come out and point their finger at me and say, 'Grace, they're flying over me again. You gotta do something about it,' " said Grace Bukowski of the Rural Alliance for Military Accountability, a watchdog group.

Bukowski is one of approximately 40 Nevada residents who either have attended meetings or have sent letters over the last few months to press Nellis Air Force Base officials about what has been going on within the boundaries of the range, which regularly has flight training exercises.

The residents have increased their scrutiny since the Air Force has announced it wants to keep indefinitely the 3 million acres of land it uses for fighter pilot training.

Nellis officials have had to comply with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 to have the withdrawal request approved.

One requirement includes holding public hearings.

An environmental impact statement including comments made at public hearings must be prepared and submitted to Congress before Nov. 6, 2001, when Nellis' reservation of the land expires.

Bukowski and about 20 other residents' interest in the base was expressed at six public meetings Nellis officials held in June. And during the month of July, Nellis received approximately 20 letters regarding the range renewal, military officials said.

But overwhelmingly, most residents' comments at different meetings in June had to do with asking military officials about why they would want to keep using the land when they have given the public few answers about what has going on at the range.

"The Cold War is nonexistent," Lorraine Highsmith said at a June 26 public meeting in Reno. "Now we have a lot of little hot spots all over the world, and periodically they blow up into showcases for military prowess ...

"And I'm wondering if conflict resolution is something that's ever come into the scope of strategies and training. Are we going to just continue to kill people for eternity, or are we going to start looking at other ways to solve conflict?"

Other residents such as Leo Gallia showed up to the Las Vegas meeting to ask about possible contamination beyond the range.

Patricia Pearlman showed up to the meeting in Indian Springs to ask why the artifacts of the Western Shoshone nation were being removed from their original burial sites.

And Les Bradshaw, the county manager for Nye County, sent a letter to Nellis officials that said the county has suffered economic losses because of the range.

"You can see the depth and breadth (of the issues)," said Nellis spokesman Col. Michael Fukey. "The comments are a framework to have all the issues addressed.

"And we want to study the issues before we respond to them."

"The range renewal process is interesting because we have the Air Force going out of its way to answer questions," said Glenn Campbell, director of the Area 51 Research Center, which posts information about the site on the Internet. "They sent the big guns, commanders, not PR people, to speak to the public face to face.

"I was happy to find out during the process that Area 51 was not within the range. They answered that for me during the meetings."

If the Congress approves the indefinite withdrawal of 3 million acres, the Air Force base would be subject to a congressional review every 15 years, but the approval would not require the production of another Environmental Impact Statement.

Nellis officials said they will have a draft of the environmental statement ready for public inspection by June 1998.