Clarity after Larsen meeting | Letters

(This is the response to a concerned resident after Congressman Rick Larsen’s Community Coffee event in Friday Harbor where Lopez

residents asked Larsen for a schedule of Navy flights over Lopez. You can read the story on www.sanjuanjournal.com by searching “Larsen local concerns.”)

I spoke with Congressman Larsen following the Community Coffee. I confirmed to the congressman that Ault Field has somewhere around 14,000 and 16,000 FCLP’s per year. He is sorry that he was wrong on that point.

The congressman also asked that I address the publishing of the Field Carrier Landing Practice flight schedule for Ault as the base does for OLF. The base is looking at how they can do that.

Their challenge is that, unlike OLF (where FCLP’s are the only flight operations performed), Ault Field is a full time, 24/7 operation conducting multiple types of flight operations.

Their struggle is that, if they publish the FCLP schedule and people hear noise from other operations that are not FCLP’s, what will the confidence of the community be that the Navy is adhering to the published schedule.

A full schedule of operations cannot be published for the public due to operational and other security concerns.

We will continue to pursue this issue as we have been since our Lopez Island Jet Noise meeting.

MIKE SCHANCHE

(USN Ret)

Office of Rick Larsen

Veteran and Community

Outreach Representative