Maneuvers Canceled at Monterey Bay

One day before an urban warfare exercise in Monterey, the Navy and Marines canceled plans Friday to land hundreds of soldiers on the beach and will instead drop them off by helicopter at the city airport.

The decision came after the state Coastal Commission concluded Thursday that the Urban Warrior operation could disturb federally protected wildlife in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

“I’m very disappointed, and I think the people of Monterey are too,” said Lt. Col. Gary Schenkel, operations officer for the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. He said that every single precaution had been taken to avoid disturbing wildlife in the sanctuary.

The combat operation would have brought 6,000 troops to Monterey Bay to test tactics and equipment likely to be used if U.S. troops are deployed to urban coastal areas abroad.

Although most of the participants would have stayed on Navy ships offshore, four 87-foot Hovercraft were set to ferry up to 200 troops to the beach, while six helicopters would have taken 150 soldiers to the Defense Language Institute two miles away.

Saturday’s maneuvers are still scheduled at the U.S. Navy Postgraduate School and the Defense Language Institute on the Presidio of Monterey. But the Marines set to arrive by sea will now be dropped off by helicopters at the airport before taking buses to the exercise.

The change of plans was welcome news to environmental groups and others protesters.

“If they’re out of the coastal environment, then good,” said Mark Massara, the Sierra Club’s director of coastal programs.

“[The Marines] have vastly underestimated the willingness of the state of California and the general public to protect coastal resources.”

Gray whales, sea otters, brown pelicans and many other species live in the sanctuary, and Massara said the exercise coincides with the season when many animals have just given birth. Major disturbances could separate mothers from their offspring, he said.

Military officials said they took precautions to protect wildlife and arranged for marine biologists and Coast Guard officials to move ahead of the Hovercraft to ensure that no animals were in the path. Also, the minimum altitude of the helicopters was raised to 1,000 feet.

“The Marines corrected the items of most concern to us through consultation, and we were satisfied that they had gone that extra mile to meet our demands,” said Scott Kathey, an enforcement coordinator at the marine sanctuary.

Schenkel said the decision to cancel the sea landing was a matter of public relations.

“We don’t want to be the enemy of the American people,” he said. “Had we continued, we would’ve been represented badly to the public. We realize that public perception is as important as mission accomplished. We want to abide by the community desires.”