Cape Environmentalist: Share Public Input For Machine Gun Range

FALMOUTH, MA — A group of Cape Cod environmentalists have called on the Massachusetts Army National Guard to release hundreds of public comments pertaining to a proposal to build a machine gun range at Joint Base Cape Cod. The Association to Preserve Cape Cod submitted a public records request to obtain about 900 comments submitted to the Army National Guard regarding the range.

The $11 million firing range would expand an existing range at the base. Constructing it requires clearing more than 170 acres of forest to accommodate the range footprint, lighting, facilities, road maintenance and more.

Some Falmouth select board members, environmentalists and residents said they have concerns about the range's environmental impact, particularly because it would be built within the Upper Cape Water Supply Reserve, an important water source for Falmouth, Barnstable, Yarmouth and several upper Cape communities.

The National Guard released an environmental report on the project and said it would not have any significant environmental impacts. Guard officials told the Cape & Islands NPR station they're still processing the comments they received, including comments challenging the project's environmental report.

But officials with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod said those comments need to be released to see just how much opposition there is to the proposed machine gun range.

"We believe those 900 comments reflect a great outpouring of public opposition to the machine gun range, and that public sentiment should weigh heavily against any decision to locate such a controversial and potentially environmentally damaging project on Cape Cod," said Executive Director Andrew Gottlieb in a statement.