"It is difficult to find peace in the woods when armed frogmen might be lurking behind every tree," lawyers for the Whidbey Environmental Action Network, the group behind the lawsuit against the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission, claimed in a legal brief filed last month.
The Navy has used Washington state coastal parks for more than 30 years for SEAL cold water training and other special operations exercises, with leaders stating that the area offers the perfect environment to simulate what the elite forces may encounter on difficult operations overseas.
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"This area provides a unique environment of cold water, extreme tidal changes, multi-variant currents, low visibility, complex underwater terrain, climate and rigorous land terrain, which provides an advanced training environment," Navy spokesman Joe Overton told Coffee or Die Magazine.
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Though the Navy's use of Washington shoreline has recently been criticized by local residents who are concerned about both the physiological and environmental impact the SEAL training can have on others using the parks.
"I do not care to catch a glimpse of apparently armed men skulking around and I DEFINITELY do not want to risk having my young grandchildren see such a sight," a resident wrote to state regulators throughout a public comment period while the state was trying to renew its agreement with the Navy.
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Other residents showed similar concerns, claiming that the parks are meant to serve as a place to relax for residents.
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"In these days of great division in our civil society, we don't need stealthy men in camo uniforms toting toy guns around our State and County Parks," a different commenter announced. "People frequent parks to escape the tension, not to encounter more. Keep the Navy commando training out of our parks!"
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Another commenter voiced concerns over UAVs, claiming, "The Navy's plan is to use larger, gasoline-powered UAV's as well as smaller, electric-powered types. This offers significant potential for direct and indirect injury to birds as well as auditory disruption to the experience of park visitors."
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The complaints led to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission in a 4-3 vote to agree to a scaled-back training that would limit where and what time SEALs could train, driving the lawsuit to block the use of state parks entirely.
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The lawsuit claims that the training may prevent residents from using the parks over fears of "encountering the proposed war games or being spied upon by Navy personnel."
The Navy contends that SEAL training in the parks has not interfered with visitors, stressing that there is no use of live-fire ammunition or explosive devices.
