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Birder, PLEASE read this!



*** Mattamuskeet and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuges ARE AT RISK!!!
***

The U.S. Navy is planning on constructing an airfield for Navy fighters in
close proximity to these wildlife refuges - some of the most important on
the east coast.

If you have not already done so, please take a moment to sign our online
petition.

http://www.mybirdlist.com/airfieldpetition.html

The proposed Outlying Landing Field for F/A-18 E/F (Super Hornet) aircraft
threatens the Mattamuskeet and/or Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuges
located in Hyde and Washington Counties, North Carolina.

These National Wildlife Refuges represent globally significant and
irreplaceable resources for birds and other wildlife.
More than 100,000 tundra swans and snow geese come to the area lakes and
agricultural fields each winter to feed and rest.  This represents 80
percent of the Atlantic flyway population of tundra swans.

The military's own computer modeling shows this region presents a severe
hazard for bird/aircraft collisions during at least half the year
(November-April).  The proposed airfield would support up to 200 flights per
day.  The Navy would be at very high risk of losing a $50 million aircraft
and
some very highly trained pilots.

For the Navy to have any hope of training during the winter, it will have to
disperse, control, and predict the movements of these 100,000 tundra swans
and snow geese, not
to mention bald eagles, ducks, geese, blackbirds, and other birds
collectively numbering in the
millions.  The Navy plans to eliminate food sources and other attractants in
a
50,000-acre area. This completely defeats the purpose of having wildlife
refuges...

The result will still be a Navy unable to train at best, or with lost pilots
and planes at worst, and a vital natural resource of the region destroyed
along the way.

Sign our online petition.  It's EASY!  Just click this link:
http://www.mybirdlist.com/airfieldpetition.html

Also, please consider forwarding this message to someone else who might
consider signing.

Thank you!

John Argentati
Raleigh, NC