An open house is scheduled on Tuesday (Nov. 4) to discuss a proposal by the U.S. Navy to conduct warfare training exercises on the Tonasket Ranger District.
The open house will be held 3:30-7:30 p.m. at the Okanogan Public Utility District in Okanogan. Forest Service and U.S. Navy personnel will be present to answer questions.
The Navy has applied for a special use permit on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest to perform training exercises with a special electronic emitter to communicate directly with Navy aircraft flying overhead above 9,000 feet.
The exercises would take place on the Tonasket Ranger District intermittently, a few to several days at a time per year, over the course of the permit life of five years, according to information from the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest.
The communication exercises would take place between aircraft and ground-based trucks driven on identified forest roads on the Tonasket Ranger District.
The U.S. Navy completed an Environmental Assessment in August and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact. The assessment can be found online at http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=45621.
The Forest Service will begin a 30-day comment period on the issuance of a special use permit for the use on National Forest System lands. The 30-day period began with the publication of the legal notice on Oct. 19 and closes on Nov. 17.
Comments may be submitted at: comments-pacificnorthwest-okanogan-tonasket@fs.fed.us.
Questions on the comment process, special use permit or on the open house, can be addressed to Sara White, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest’s forest environmental coordinator. Phone (509)-664-9232, or email sarajwhite@fs.fed.us.
