SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — An enormous bomber training area over the northern Plains approved this week is likely an economic win for South Dakota, but the benefits could come with a cost for neighboring states.

Advocates of the plan to expand the Powder River Training Complex over the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming gathered Friday in Rapid City to celebrate its final approval by the Federal Aviation Administration. South Dakota officials praised the expanded airspace, which will be used by B-1 bombers from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota and B-52 bombers from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, for improving training opportunities that will bolster the entire country's national security.

The move also will likely help shield Ellsworth from potential future closure and further cement its estimated $350 million impact on South Dakota's economy as the state's second-largest employer. U.S. Sen. John Thune, who has been pushing for the expansion since 2006, has said the larger airspace could protect Ellsworth from the federal cost-cutting program that had targeted the base in 2005.

"Ellsworth is one of the key economic engines of the state," said Aaron Scheibe, deputy commissioner of the Governor's Office of Economic Development. "This is a great announcement for Ellsworth, for the Black Hills and really all of South Dakota."

The expansion roughly quadruples the training airspace, making it the largest over the continental U.S. The Air Force estimates that the expanded airspace could save Ellsworth up to $23 million a year in fuel costs by reducing the number of training flights to states such as Utah and Nevada. Officials have said the expansion will significantly improve the training opportunities for aircrews at both bases.

Benjamin Snow, president of the Rapid City Economic Development Partnership, said the base's closure would leave a huge hole in region's economy and said the expansion is helpful for ensuring that doesn't happen.

"It's hard to imagine a world like that, so we tend not to go there," Snow said. "Some of the other states have concerns, but when you look at the big picture I think this a very shrewd move."

Elected leaders in Montana have said the bombers would disrupt rural communities. Gov. Steve Bullock wrote in a mid-March letter to the FAA that the expansion "would be at the expense of the livelihoods and economic prosperity of Montanans."

Bullock said rural airfields, such as eastern Montana's Baker Municipal Airport, would be significantly disrupted.

Under the Air Force plan, supersonic flights would be limited to 10 days a year during large-scale exercises involving roughly 20 aircraft. As many as 88 civilian flights a day could be delayed when the large-scale exercises are conducted.

Roger Meggers, who manages the Baker airport, said the expansion would harm the whole community by restricting access to transportation.

"It hurts our economy," Meggers said. "That's how people get to Baker, Montana."

Meggers said the plan would also disrupt the oil-and-gas-rich region. U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat from North Dakota, said in a statement that she would continue pressuring the Air Force to honor its commitments and work "hand-in-hand with local aviators and businesses to protect our way of life."

Thune, speaking at the press conference Friday, said that the Air Force went to "unprecedented lengths" to accommodate concerns. He said the expansion is a long time coming.

"It's a dangerous world, folks," Thune said. "We're going to need those airmen at Ellsworth Air Force Base to be ready to go when the time comes."

Share:
In Other News
Load More