A face and name finally emerged this week to acknowledge that a full-fledged organized attempt is under way to prevent Friedman Memorial Airport from being moved to a distant new location.
Paul Bowers of Anchorage, Ala., an airport and aviation consultant, told the Idaho Mountain Express that for the time being he'll speak for the Friedman Airport Users Alliance, which has declared war on proposals to relocate Friedman and build a new, larger, more remote airport.
However, Bowers declined to identify others involved, including those who are chartering the group and will pay his fees and expenses for studying how the Friedman move can be blocked, plus meeting with Friedman officials, the Federal Aviation Administration and Landrum & Brown, the consulting firm conducting an environmental-impact study for a new airport.
Various local public critics of the Friedman move denied in e-mails to the Mountain Express any participation in the organization.
However, Jim Perkins, president of the Blaine County Pilots Association, and Friedman Manager Rick Baird said they spoke to a non-Idaho man other than Bowers who admitted being associated with the organization. The Mountain Express could not independently confirm his name.
Bowers has a long pedigree in airport circles, having been an executive at airports in Alaska, California and Colorado and also serving as director of the Alaska Department of Transportation's aviation division.
In fact, his stint as manager of the Juneau airport, from 1985 to 1994, seems to be the principal reason he's been retained to consult on the Friedman issue. In the 30-plus-page "Prospective Member Information Package" being distributed by the Friedman Airport Users Alliance among pilots in the Wood River Valley and elsewhere, Bowers likens Juneau International Airport's weather and surrounding terrain safety issues to Friedman's, complete with comparison aerial photos, and points out that Juneau's airport was spared relocation because of innovative navigation aid improvements.
However, major differences do exist between the airports. Juneau's 8,500-foot runway is virtually at sea level. Friedman's 7,550-foot runway is at 5,318 feet, which affects aircraft takeoff performance. Juneau's runway and taxiway are 400 feet apart. From edge-to-edge, Friedman's runway and taxiway are 150 feet apart, which has led the FAA to require Friedman operations to be put on hold during landings and takeoffs of Horizon Air's Q400 turboprops because of their wingspan and speed.
In the packet, Bowers proposes spending $11,215 initially on research and travel expenses in behalf of the Friedman Airport Users Alliance.
The alliance's mission statement is blunt. It says it will explore extending Friedman's runway south toward Bellevue as well as moving Friedman operations to the west (now a growing light-industrial area) and "more efficient use of available space to the east" (now largely developed as the Woodside residential area).
The document accused proponents of using "scare tactics" in proposing a new airport. It called relocating the airport "adverse to the air travel demands of a mountainous resort community" and the result of "limited political will to find smarter and more rational solutions." These arguments are very similar to those voiced in the past by north valley business interests,
It also said the Friedman governing board "has now tried to foretell the process by attempting to purchase land for their preferred location ... before the EIS results are available." In fact, the airport authority's activities in that regard have involved only informal discussions about land swaps involving state and federal agencies.
Plans to build a new airport to replace Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey have met opposition from a group called the Friedman Airport Users Alliance.
Photo by Mountain Express
