BeFriending Creation
Group asks our help in stopping
U.S. Army `land grab' in southeast Colorado
Displacement of traditional communities and trashing of fragile ecological systems are among the fears that have led thousands of Southwesterners to resist the U.S. Army's proposal to nearly triple the size of its 240,000-acre Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeast Colorado.
After hearing from Doug Holdred, a member of a citizens' coalition, the QEW Steering Committee agreed at its October meeting to write a letter of support (see box below). We all should inform our legislators as well!
Opponents question the Army's need for a larger site for military maneuvers when there are many other very large military reservations in the Southwest.
Some QEW members observed that the land in question is very similar to the terrain in parts of the Middle East where the U.S. may have plans to expand its military presence.
On their website <www.pinon canyon.com> the coalition says, "As ranchers, farmers, school teachers, and business and community leaders in Southeast Colorado, we have strong core beliefs about environmental protection, humane animal-care practices and private property rights. We also hold firm to the belief that our national security relies as much on our efforts to produce food as it does on a good national defense."
October 7, 2006
To: Donald Rumsfeld U.S. Secretary of Defense
We, members of Quaker Earthcare Witness, are deeply concerned about the negative environmental, human and spiritual implications of the proposed expansion of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeastern Colorado. In the manner of Friends, those present, representing many Friends Meetings and organizations of North America found unity to support this letter.
We believe that both this expansion and the process that has led up to it violate principles to which all of us should be committed. True sustainability, which we should all strive for, meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The proposed expansion would remove families, perhaps forcibly as was done in the past, from the land that has sustained them for generations; this would impact their descendents far into the future. The area affected is unique and fragile. It would likely never be able to recover from the effects of live-fire military maneuvers, unexploded ordnance, and large-vehicle traffic. Delicate wildlife and plant ecologies would be disrupted and displaced.
The targeted area includes thousands of documented historical and archaeological sites which constitute the heritage of the culturally diverse local population as well as our national cultural heritage. These treasures belong to the people and the nation, and the United States government has no right to destroy them. The actions that would be undertaken would lead to more destruction of the fragile web of life on Earth.
True sustainability is never achieved at the expense of less politically and economically empowered members of our human family. The fact that the per-capita income of the people in Las Animas County is half that of the per-capita income in the state of Colorado as a whole suggests that these people are vulnerable and are being exploited by those who are wealthier and more politically empowered.
Additionally, the process that has led to this proposed expansion has been undertaken in violation of a well-established basic procedure for sustainable development: the full recognition and inclusion of stakeholders. The Fort Carson Sustainability Plan has been in process since 2002, but has not recognized or included in the planning process the human population living within the PCMS expansion area.
The current trend of United States military expansion, of which the PCMS is part, threatens the sustainability of our planet, not only by direct human and environmentally destructive activities, but also by increasing the threat to smaller nations, engendering insecurity and leading them to expand their own military resources.
We seek ways to cooperate to save life, to strengthen the bonds of community among all people, to build peace, and to live in unity with nature. We urge you to put a halt to your plans to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site.
Sincerely yours,
Barbara Williamson, clerk
More exciting titles for the QEW video lending library
Grants from the Quaker Missions Stamp Project and the Yarnall Fund of Chestnut Hill (Pa.) Friends Meeting have allowed QEW to purchase 13 more Earthcare-related DVDs for its video lending library. These include:
Kilowatt Ours (DVD only)
Follow filmmaker Jeff Barrie from the coal mines of West Virginia to the solar panel fields of Florida as he discovers solutions to America's energy-related problems. Two versions, 56 minutes and 38 minutes.
Five communities explore solutions to the effects of growth and sprawl on the quality of life in New England. 57 minutes.
An in-depth look at USA honeymoon areas, Niagara Falls and Hawaii, in the time of global warming. Produced by Julianna FreeHand.
Not for Sale (DVD only)
This documentary explores some little-known aspects of global trade agreements like the World Trade Organization. Patents, and other intellectual property rights are expanding what corporations can own and control. 31 minutes.
The True cost of Food (DVD only)
This entertaining —and disturbing—animated film explores sources of our foods and the true cost of today's "conventional" food to society and human and environmental health.
The full list can be seen on the QEW website. To order, contact QEW office.
