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Thursday, November 20, 2003

Otero Warning Signs Up

By Penne Usher
Mountain View Telegraph
    Signs are being installed in Otero Canyon warning hikers and bikers not to enter the area without permission or face the possibility of prosecution.
    Lt. Kelley Jeter of Kirtland Air Force Base said some of the signs are already in place on the perimeter of an M-60 firing range, and when installation is complete more than 100 signs will mark the restricted area. The gunnery range is near the Manzano fire lookout tower, at the far southwest end of the popular trails in an area closest to the base.
    The signs read, "Danger: Live Weapons Firing Ranges. Do not enter without permission of the installation commander. Violators will be prosecuted," said base commander Col. Henry "Hank" Andrews. The lower portion of the signs contain the same message in Spanish, he said.
    Jeter said the signs are strictly a public safety issue.
    The base has received reports that users of the popular hiking and mountain biking area off N.M. 337 south of Tijeras have been entering an active firing range.
    To ensure the public's safety the base decided to post the warning signs.
    Jeter said signs will be placed about every 150 meters around the gunnery range and the work will take some time to complete.
    "Installation crews work only when the range is at cease-fire, about one to two hours a day. It's a pretty active range," she said.
    Andrews said the M-60 range is getting more use now than a few months ago because another firing range that was in poor condition was closed.
    "We are completely rebuilding it," he said.
    Andrews said the project is about 35 percent complete and did not comment on when it is expected to be completed.
    The weapons to be used at the refurbished range are small-caliber 9 mm ammunition. The M-60s will still be fired at the current range, so even when the refurbished range opens, a danger still exists to the public coming too close to the firing range.
    "Rounds go a long way or ricochet— it can make for a pretty hazardous place to be," Andrews said.
    The M-60 range is the only area where the signs will be installed right now, he said.
    "We are looking at all of our other ranges," Andrews said. "We have a responsibility (to ensure safety)."
    He emphasized that no decision has been made on any other location for signs at this time.
    The possibility of fencing off portions of Otero Canyon to the public has not been determined, according to base officials.
    Matt Turgeon of the Save Otero group, a grass-roots coalition working to keep the canyon open to the public, said he is suspicious of the base's motives for closing off the area.
    He said the Air Force claims the area in question is part of an M-60 firing range, but he said that issue did not surface until recently.
    "This wasn't an issue for Otero, it was homeland security, and now unexploded ordnance. This is sloppy management or a ploy on their part," Turgeon said.
    Kirtland proposed completely closing off the entire Otero Canyon area with 6.4 miles of 7-foot-high fencing along the eastern border of the base.
    A June 23 public hearing on the issue was attended by more than 600 people. Public comments were encouraged, and Kirtland officials were to report their findings 45 days after the public comment period ended July 16.
    The deadline for public comment is long gone and no decision has been made by the base.
    In an earlier interview, Ralph Francis, director of public affairs for Kirtland, said so many comments were received that the base is still reviewing them.