Alberto Scotti: Model planes have no effect on birds

Regarding the April 18 news article “Endangered bird threatens model airplane club at Jordan Lake”: The reaction of the managing agencies implied a perceived incompatibility between the woodpeckers and model airplanes. This is not supported by facts.

Many protected woodpeckers reside on military installations. Peer-reviewed studies show that artillery fire occurring farther than one-tenth of a mile does not disturb these birds.

Given the distance between the Jordan Lake airstrip and where the birds were spotted, the noise level generated by our loudest aircrafts is well below what a cannon would produce one-tenth of a mile away.

The timeline of the sighting is also telling: The birds were spotted in October, when our field was open, and have not been seen since the onset of winter, when our field was closed due to the field being water-logged.

There are several model aviation clubs that have operated for many years in areas designated as “wildlife habitat,” such as the Harry S. Truman National Wildlife Refuge in Missouri, with no detrimental effect to the local birds.

Sen. Valerie Foushee summed up our position well: “This does not have to be a zero sum game.”

This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Alberto Scotti: Model planes have no effect on birds."