GYPSUM, Colo.—A coalition backing a wilderness designation for parts of the Colorado mountains is meeting with the Colorado Army National Guard to discuss how high-altitude helicopter training would be affected.
Members of the military and proponents of Hidden Gems wilderness proposal met Friday after the National Guard said the designation could put landing zones used by the High-Altitude Army Aviation Training Site off-limits.
The program, known as HAATS, is the only helicopter training site for the U.S. where the terrain and conditions are similar to those encountered by pilots in Afghanistan.
The Hidden Gems wilderness proposal would declare a total of about 450,000 acres as federal wilderness. Motorized equipment is generally banned in wilderness areas, but there are exceptions.
Sloan Shoemaker has said his group, the Wilderness Workshop, endorses the training program. His group is part of the coalition behind the wilderness proposal.
“We appreciate the National Guard’s willingness to sit down and work towards an agreement that protects both national security and these vital wilderness-quality lands,” Shoemaker said. “We came away from the meeting with a better understanding of perspectives, and, I believe, built a level of trust,” he said.
Environmentalists and officials from HAATS plan to meet again.
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Information from: Post Independent,
