Florida university’s plan for flight school in national forest is plane crazy

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has bought 118 acres inside Ocala National Forest and wants to pave an existing grass airstrip, build a 10,000-square-foot hangar, and clear nearly 40 acres of forest land it does not own to support roughly 300 daily takeoffs and landings, seven days a week, 50 weeks a year. The 387,000-acre forest, established by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908, draws about 650,000 visitors annually and hosts imperiled species including gopher tortoises, roseate spoonbills, and migratory swallowtail kites.

Local opponents, including the Lake County Conservation Council and neighboring landowners, argue no noise analysis has been done despite engineers finding kite nesting sites near the runway and estimating aircraft noise would blanket up to 50,000 acres. A nearby 64-acre retreat center marking its 60th anniversary says the project threatens the tranquility that defines it.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.