SUIT FILED TO BLOCK LOW FLIGHTS COALITION WANTS AIR FORCE TO SPARE THE ENVIRONMENT.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - A coalition of citizen groups is seeking a court order to block low-level military flights, including those out of Edwards Air Force Base, until the Air Force studies the impact the jet noise has on the environment.

The citizens groups, led by the Rural Alliance for Military Accountability and the Center for Biological Diversity, has sued the Air Force in federal court, seeking to force the service to conduct an environmental impact statement for all of its flights lower than 2,000 feet.

``These low-level flight military overflights are extremely loud, sometimes deafening, and startling to human beings and animals, causing wildlife and livestock to panic and stampede and impairing their ability to reproduce and raise their young,'' said Peter Galvin, a biologist for the Center for Biological Diversity.

The groups expect to get a summary judgment this year from the federal lawsuit they filed in January.

Noise levels from low-flying jets can hit 110 decibels - described as between a circular saw and a rock band in loudness. The sudden appearance of aircraft can also be startling to animals, Galvin said.

The 12 groups that filed the lawsuit represent fishers, farmers, hunters, rafters, hikers, backcountry outfitters and residents.

``We want to get the military to acknowledge there are certain areas that are too environmentally sensitive to fly over,'' said Galvin, whose group filed the 1998 lawsuit that resulted in the Angeles National Forest closing the Littlerock offroad area to protect a rare toad.

Air Force officials would not comment on the lawsuit. Air Force officials did say low-level flights are necessary to provide realistic training for its pilots.

In a statement issued in response to requests for comment on the lawsuit, the Air Force said it ``works closely with federal agencies, Native American tribes, and local governments to balance its test, training and readiness requirements with responsible environmental stewardship.''

To the Air Force, low-level flying is a survival skill that allows aircraft to avoid detection by radar systems. It is a skill that requires gradually working down to lower altitudes and faster speeds as confidence is built up.

``If we want to defend our nation, we've got to fly low at times,'' said Bob Johnstone, a former Edwards official who is now a consultant for the city of Lancaster.

Most of the low-level flights out of Edwards are to test terrain-following radar systems. That work is conducted not only for U.S. military aircraft, but also for aircraft from foreign countries.

``We've been pretty successful in getting people to understand that requirement,'' Johnstone said.

Most of Edwards' low-level flights occur over the R-2508 Complex, a range that stretches 140 miles north and south between Bishop and Edwards, and 110 miles east to west, between the Nevada state line to Tehachapi. The range takes in Sequoia, Kings Canyon and Death Valley national parks.

The range is used by several military installations, including the China Lake Naval Weapons Center near Ridgecrest, the Air National Guard at Fresno, and the Naval Air Station at Lemoore.

In 1977, the military voluntarily restricted flights to no lower than 3,000 feet over the Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, Death Valley National Monument, the John Muir Wilderness Area and portions of the Domeland Wilderness Area.

The voluntary limit does not apply to the 1.2 million acres that were added to Death Valley National Monument when the area was enlarged and redesignated a national park in 1995.