Posted on 08/04/2007 7:01:23 AM PDT by SandRat
FORT HUACHUCA — A longtime critic of Fort Huachuca’s impact on the San Pedro River claims the 2002 biological opinion between the post and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is badly flawed which has led to the errors being incorporated into the 2007 biological opinion.
Phoenix physician Dr. Robin Silver said a 21-page study from the Center for Sustainable Economy, a Santa Fe, N.M., based organization, challenges the Army’s figures based on per capita instead of the more scientific economic model.
Silver is chairman of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity.
Garrison Commander Col. Melissa Sturgeon said “the fort stands by its economic analysis and population numbers.”
The Center for Sustainable Economy study contends the use of population based methods “are facially inadequate for this task because they fail to account for water use associated with the vast majority of off-post induced economic development …”
The study’s conclusion also said that an economic-based method “may be far more accurate” and doing it that way will “likely find a water deficit liability grater than the 54.3 percent found by Fort Huachuca’s 2002 biological assessment.”
The reality is that preliminary data reviewed by the New Mexico group “may find the fort’s water liability to be as high as 80 percent.”
Although fort officials have yet to have a chance to review the New Mexico center’s study, Sturgeon said the Army’s Economic Income Forecasting System is used to determine figures in the biological opinion.
“Using the EIFS, the fort took responsibility for the water usage of approximately 7,000 additional people who are not employed by the installation but live in the area,” the colonel said.
John Talberth, who was involved in the Center for Sustainable Economy study, said the procedure used by the fort and Fish and Wildlife Service is insufficient to properly address the water woes the fort is creating in the Sierra Vista Subwatershed.
“Using a population base model is counterintuitive,” said Talberth, who has a doctorate and is the president and senior economist of the center.
Looking at the total economic impact and how it causes additional stress on the water system, especially how it creates problems for the San Pedro River, is better, he said.
“Follow the dollars, not the population,” Talberth said, is the best analytical solution.
The New Mexico center and the Center for Biological Diversity are not connected, he said. The biodiversity group paid to have the analysis done.
In the past, Silver and the Center for Biological Diversity sued the fort, claiming its existence leads to additional growth on and off the post and that is killing the San Pedro River.
The use of the 2002 biological opinion as a starting point for the new agreement needs to be reviewed, Silver said.
The fort has increased its expenditures by nearly 80 percent in the past few years, and more money spent by the post creates more water use, Silver said.
“Cash equals activity,” he said.
Past lawsuits against the post have led to changes by fort officials, Silver said. And, he said, it appears there may be a need for another lawsuit to force fort officials to correct the errors of their ways.
Sturgeon said the post “continues its proven water conservation efforts and environmental leadership in the Sierra Vista Subwatershed.”
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
ON THE NET
The Center for Sustainable Economy study “Improving Water Deficit Liability Calculations through Economic Modeling” can be found at http://www.sustainable-economy.org.
The moonbats will be happy only when the base is removed.
Perhaps the best way to assure a sustained economy would be to ban TSW (Tight Sphinctered Women) from getting Phd’s in biology or enviromental sciences and setting up organizations for the specific purpose of having a job and making a difference.
The American economy is strong but the continued infestation of parasites could drag it under.
Well, he certainly fooled me.
I was down that way last year and it looked like the area around the fort had been invaded by California realestate agents and refugees.
The climate in that part of the Southwest is very favorable due in part to the elevation. Sierra Vista has grown from a small village, to town to large city over the years….many people retire there. I seriously doubt the Fort is responsible for the depletion of water; rather it is the explosion of residents in that area. The environmentalists etc. are most likely using models that do not reflect on individual aspects but rather models that only see one way. To find the truth, you must hire hydrologists who have no axes to grind and a proven track record. Fly-ways for migratory birds have great protection already.....perhaps a greater effort should be made in cleaning up after hundreds of illegal aliens leave trash on the otherwise, pristine desert.
“In the past, Silver and the Center for Biological Diversity sued the fort, claiming its existence leads to additional growth on and off the post and that is killing the San Pedro River.”
Gee, if they win this, then we could sue New York City on the grounds that additional growth in and around NYC is killing...
There really is no environment to save. The terrain is barren and the climate is brutal.
The lefties are after the fort because of what it does today. That mission is far more important than the demands from any pinheaded environmentalist.
Let them take a big bite of that Borax that pretends to be soil down there.
I live about 50 miles from Ft Huachuca. The terrain is NOT barren and the climate is mild (the high today is expected to be 81 deg). You don’t know what you are talking about.
Do you have a vegetable garden?
Given a choice of Tucson, Huachuca, or Phoenix...I’d pick Huachuca. Its ten degrees cooler and slightly more vegetation than Tucson. But lets be honest...you got cactus growing and thats just about it. For those of us in Bama...you are barren.
The person in questions is
1. A Male
2. A physician, ie, MD, not Ph.D.
Dr. Robin would be more helpful practicing medicine, not witchcraft environmentalism.
Ok Ok.... I’m a sexist bigot biased against female activists.
Our Boy Scout Troop has spent time in Sierra Vista, the post and surrounding National Parks. You are greatly mistaken. I take it you didn't make it to the mountains.
Ben, how did you miss this? http://nitro.biosci.arizona.edu/zeeb/butterflies/habitats/Huachuca.html
Those are indeed beautiful and you are right — that’s not what I’m referring to.
No, I hate veggies. I’m also a couple thousand feet lower (hence hotter) than Ft Huachuca. But we walked for an hour this morning in the ‘desert’, surrounded by mesquite & acacia.
I would think there is more environmental damage done by illegals passing through than the military. Our Boy Scout Troop picked up tons of garbage left by the illegals.
He blames it ALL on the Fort; Everything!
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