Tucson Forward

PRESS RELEASE

Tucson Forward Scores Second Major Victory in Fight Against F-35

Years of activism paid off yesterday for Tucson Forward when the Pentagon announced it would bypass Tucson and instead locate the new F-35 aircraft at Luke AFB near Phoenix. Tucson Forward, a group of citizens dedicated to protecting the property rights and quality of life of the people of Southern Arizona, hailed the announcement as a major victory for common sense.

“Tucson was a miserable choice for the F-35 and I’m delighted that the government, for once, showed some sense in making its decision.”, said Donna rae Watson, spokesperson for the group. Citing billions of dollars in economic damage for cities around the world that have had the deafening aircraft forced upon them, Watson expressed hope that Tucson’s economy would now have a fighting chance for recovery.

While the decision marks a decided victory against the aircraft, the fight is not over yet. Depending upon the results of Environmental Impact Studies in progress, the Pentagon could once again place Tucson in the running for the aircraft. “We at Tucson Forward remain committed to protecting Tucson from the F-35. We have spent over six years mobilizing public awareness about this threat and we won’t stop now that complete victory is at hand.”, said Watson.

Tucson Forward began as Tucsonans for Sound Solutions in 2004 when thousands of homes in Tucson were effectively condemned by a stroke of the City Council’s pen. A “flight overlay zone” was created by Mayor Walkup and the City Council when Davis-Monthan AFB changed its flight operations. Thousands of homes previously unaffected by military aircraft noise were overnight deemed “incompatible with residential use”. Owners came home in August of that year to find notices advising them of the proposed change. Years of window shaking, deafening sound soon followed. None of the property owners were compensated for the loss of use of their homes because the city had not legally condemned their structures.

Instead, many owners received property tax increases the following years. Citizens were enraged by the blatant theft of their properties and further insulted when they learned of Mayor Walkup’s plans to encourage the F-35′s location in Tucson. The plane, up to four times louder than the current planes flying out of TIA would have driven even more people from their homes and wreaked economic havoc on the entire city. The proposed beddown of the F-35 would not only have impacted the area near TIA, but the aircraft would also used the D-M flight paths.

Tucsonans for Sound Solutions was reorganized in 2009 and became Tucson Forward. Members campaigned against the F-35, the “flight overlayment zone” and Operation Snowbird, an Air National Guard program run out of Davis-Monthan which does year-round combat training of sister-service and foreign pilots. An Environmental Impact Study should have been done prior to the substantial changes in the military’s flight operations.

Operation Snowbird, which severely increased the amount of noise over Tucson, the amount and types of carcinogens dumped on schools and homes in the area and upped the risk of a catastrophic air disaster, simply skipped the study. Pressure from the group forced the Air Force to backtrack and declare that an Environmental Impact Study will finally be done.

“Tucson Forward is really coming into it’s own.”, said Watson. “This is our second major victory for the people of Southern Arizona this summer and we couldn’t be more pleased.”