LOCALS, CONSERVATIONISTS, AUDUBON MEMBERS, YOUR OBSERVATIONS NEEDED
December 18, 2020
The Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge intermittently receives reports of low-flying military aircraft in the area. Refuge staff wish to track and attempt to quantify the frequency to better protect the area. Your assistance may well help.
WHAT?
Your help is needed in assessing how often military aircraft are observed flying low-level in the area.
WHY?
So that the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges can better work with the controlling military installations in managing this air traffic.
BECAUSE?
Such flights portend potential disturbance to area wildlife. It would also be helpful to know whether these flights are observed during daylight or night hours.
SPECIFICALLY…NOT AIRPORT TRAFFIC
The information that is needed involves ONLY military aircraft flying over the Refuges and NOT aircraft using or in the vicinity of Cedar Key Airport, whether they are civilian or military.
PROBLEM
Recently, at least two sorties of military fixed-wing aircraft were observed flying low-level over the Cedar Keys and Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuges. One occurrence involved a flight of two Boeing 737s (presumably Navy P-8s) and the other a flight of two A-10 Warthogs.
There are several low-level military visual training routes that cross over the Lower Suwanee and Cedar Keys NWR. These are corridors designated for flight operations below 1500' agl (above ground level) in visual conditions, and speeds can range up to 400 knots. These corridors can be considered up to 10 nautical miles wide in some cases, and are controlled, "owned," by individual military installations who can either assign them or deem them off-limits.
Civil air regulations request that pilots remain above 2000’ above a national wildlife refuge or national park. This height avoidance is considered a “voluntary practice” by civilian pilots and is encouraged due to noise sensitivity in these areas, but also bird-strike avoidance.
While the birds on Cedar Keys Refuge are somewhat acclimated to overflying aircraft due to a long-standing presence of a public airport at the City of Cedar Key, these larger, faster moving aircraft still cause a disturbance. However, any disturbances by these fast-moving aircraft are transient when compared to the larger rotorcraft ops (UH-60s and the V and MV-22 Ospreys) particularly at night. These aircraft are large, slow moving, and can hover in the area for extended periods with or without lots of bright lights. Because this portion of the coastline is particularly devoid of artificial surface lights, it can be an attractive night-vision practice area for some of these ops.
PLEASE, NOTE:
- If you can identify the type of aircraft and/or note the number or markings on it, that information would be helpful.
- Note the time of day or night and the location where you saw it.
THEN, PLEASE, CALL or EMAIL:
Refuge Manager, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Refuge System,
- on his cell, 703.622.3896
- or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.