Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2003 18:02:43 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Denise Ryan Subject: Interesting Article on Defense and Endangered Species MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" NEW YORK TIMES February 6, 2003 Defense Department Forum Focuses on Environment By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE WASHINGTON, Feb. 5 - Even as the possibility of war with Iraq looms, Defense Department officials took time out today to talk about spotted owls, red-cockaded woodpeckers and slick spot peppergrass. The attention to such exotic flora and fauna is part of the Pentagon's new strategy to gain permission from Congress for exemptions from environmental rules it says have bedeviled its training and readiness mission over the years. The Pentagon sought an exemption last year but failed. Now it is back with a broader effort to garner support. That was evident today at an environmental forum at the National Defense University here at Fort McNair, where defense officials said the Pentagon could adhere to its military mission while sharing the goals of environmentalists. Paul D. Wolfowitz, deputy defense secretary, addressed the gathering, which included military officials and representatives of environmental groups and, in a departure for the military, was open to the news media. "The challenge is nothing less than supporting the twin imperatives of producing the best-trained military force in the world and providing the best environmental stewardship," Mr. Wolfowitz said. "National security and environmental security are mutually reinforcing." At the same time, defense officials suggested that the urgency of their military mission required an ability to override environmental rules. "We're on a collision course with our national priorities," said Gen. John M. Keane, vice chief of staff for the Army. General Keane emphasized his point by recounting the performance of the 10th Mountain Division in the major battle in Afghanistan known as Operation Anaconda, in which hundreds of Al Qaeda members were killed. He said that the Americans suffered few deaths because of their superb training, which required live-fire maneuvers, particularly at night, that simulated the conditions of war. But the Endangered Species Act, he said, limited the use of military bases for such training. "The Army hosts 170 federally endangered species on 94 installations," he said, adding that land on 12 installations had been designated as critical habitat, including Fort Lewis, where 70 percent of the land is habitat for the spotted owl. "We're protecting the habitat and the critter has not arrived yet," he said. "To me, a simple infantry guy, that doesn't pass the common-sense test." For that reason, the Pentagon is seeking a blanket exemption from environmental laws. Congressional aides said that draft legislation was circulating among federal agencies for review and that it would probably be introduced in the next several weeks. Representatives of environmental organizations were skeptical of the idea that environmental laws were inhibiting the military from accomplishing its goals and said such an exemption was unnecessary. Michael J. Bean, a lawyer with Environmental Defense, said that most environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act, allowed for the defense secretary to declare unilateral exemptions but that no secretary had ever done so. "If they've got a problem, they should use the existing authority," Mr. Bean said. Brock Evans, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition, said environmental groups preferred that exemptions were sought case by case because it would force the military to prove its argument. "No one wants to interfere with training, but we're not persuaded that, except in one or two cases, it really is," Mr. Evans said. "Our fear is that if they get an exemption here, what would prevent, say, the Forest Service, which wants to log everything in site in the national forests, from getting their exemption?" Some members of Congress have also been skeptical. One of the harshest critics has been Representative John D. Dingell, Democrat of Michigan, who says the military has been exploiting the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as an excuse to skirt environmental laws. "I have dealt with the military for years, and they constantly seek to get out from under environmental laws," Mr. Dingell said. "But using the threat of 9/11 and Al Qaeda to get unprecedented environmental immunity is despicable." He added, "We have fought two World Wars, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf war with this law in place, and there is no demonstrated need to exempt the Department of Defense now." Raymond F. DuBois, deputy under secretary of defense for installations and environment, said it would be ludicrous for the defense secretary to "walk into the Oval Office every afternoon and say, `Mr. President, I have a new training exercise at Camp Swampee that needs your waiver.' " Imagining such a scene, he said, "The potential to disturb a sea lion on a buoy as a destroyer is leaving San Diego harbor - got to get a permit for that!" ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================