Legislation eyed to challenge military flyovers

Proposed military training flyovers in southern Colorado could face a legislative challenge this January should the Air Force move forward with its plans, says a southern Colorado lawmaker. The Air Force wants to conduct low-altitude training flights over wide-ranging parts of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico that would be designated as a Low Altitude Tactical Navigation (LATN) area. The military is studying the possibility and has invited input from the communities in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico where the low-altitude maneuvers would occur. A public informational and input meeting was held in Raton last month. Several lawmakers who gathered on the steps of the Pueblo County Courthouse in September to address the flyover issue said they had concerns about the flyovers impact on communities, wildlife and other social and environmental issues. Among the legislators at the courthouse was Rep. Wes McKinley of Walsh, whose district includes Las Animas County. He now says he plans on taking legislative action, if needed, when the Colorado General Assembly convenes in January, to prohibit the flyovers if the military decides to move forward. McKinley says it is a quality-of-life issue. He said he’s looking into current law that addresses “trespass in the air” for privately owned land, and he said preliminary research he and others have done indicates such a concept is not as far-fetched as it may sound...more