Air Force to hold public GRASI hearings in June

The Air Force is planning to hold two public hearings in Franklin County in June to discuss their plans to use portions of Tate’s Hall State Forest for training missions.

The Air Force wants to expand non-hazardous training to areas further away from Eglin Air Force base into parts of the Blackwater River State Forest and Tate’s Hell.

Under the current plans the impacts to the forest would include using various sites in Tate’s Hell for helicopter landing and drop zones, airstrips, and ground force exercises.

About a dozen threat emitters would also be installed around the area for training aircraft.

The Air Force is in the final stages of its Draft Environmental Impact Study on what they call the Gulf regional Airspace Strategic Initiative or GRASI for short.

The Draft Environmental Impact Study evaluates the potential environmental consequences of the Air Force proposal to use the state forests.

The U.S. Air Force has scheduled two public hearings in Franklin County to get public input regarding corrections or clarifications for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and to address issues that haven’t previously been addressed or to consider new information.

The public hearings will be held on June the 3^rd at the Carrabelle Municipal Complex and on June the 4^th at the Franklin County Courthouse Annex in Apalachicola.

Both hearings begin with an open house information session at 6:00PM, followed by an Air Force presentation at 6:30PM and then an opportunity for formal public comments at 7:00PM.

We have posted a link to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement on-line at Oysterradio.com

http://grasieis.leidoseemg.com/documentation.aspx

http://live.oysterradio.com/