We Don’t Know

To the editor: There’s too much about the expansion of Camp Grayling I don’t know. Then I figured it out: Not knowing is a big part of the problem – not just for me but for everyone else, too.

Why does Camp Grayling need all that land? We don’t know. They’ve given us half-reasons but nothing that really holds water. What’s in it for them? They aren’t saying.

What are they going to do there? We don’t know. Drone training? Hah, drone operators sit in an office in Colorado while the drones are being used half-way round the world.

Electronics warfare experimentation? What does it do to civilians, our cellphones and stuff? They aren’t saying. Will it affect wildlife? They aren’t saying.

There’s a factor no one has mentioned: the military industrial complex, whose mission is to invent deadly stuff they can sell (and we can pay for). Are they planning on testing something new and dangerous around here? They aren’t saying.

What’s our biggest source of income? Visitors. Do they come for the glitzy glamor of Grayling? The Broadway babes of Beaver Creek? The louche low-life of Lovells? No, we all know it’s nature. Wildlife, birds, peace and quiet, being outside in the fresh air, hearing the wind soughing through the pine trees.

The more land the military claims, the less land open to visitors, the fewer visitors will come, the less income for us.

Wood products are our biggest industry. Would companies be allowed to cut trees on military land? Nope. That means more clear-cutting near us. Just what we want, eh?

The Camp’s new land would “parallel” rivers. But that’s in the watershed. Military use often results in pollution, and around here we know pollution drains into rivers. Just what we want, eh?

The military are our nation’s protectors. They lay their lives on the line for our country. However, they don’t have a great record when it comes to concern for civilians. Individual soldiers, sailors and airmen can be great people, but they’re trained to kill enemies; they aren’t trained in caring about locals.

PFAS , and its bad effects, have been known for over 40 years. Some studies were even done by the military, so they knew what it could do. Did that stop them using it at Camp Grayling and the airfield? NO. Can we trust them not to use anything equally dangerous in our rivers’ watershed? They aren’t saying.

What can we do? Every one of us can write to the governor. For the price of a stamp, we can let her know the expansion of Camp Grayling is bad for us.

On January 12 at 10 a.m. we can all go to the next county commissioners’ meeting at the courthouse, and ask a whole lotta tough questions. We need specific answers. And we need to tell the commissioners and the brass hats what we think.

 

Cathy Lester

Grayling