Thanks to Nisqually Tribe: No HIMARS thanks to Nisqually Tribe

Re: “Army won’t use JBLM for rocket testing” (TNT, 3/2).

Thanks to the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s strong leadership, the U. S. Army was convinced not to move the HIMARS mobile missile program to Joint Base Lewis-McChord. As the Nisqually Tribal Council explained in numerous communications, it makes no sense to move HIMARS from the desert area of the Yakima firing range to the highly urbanized area of Western Washington. They took a firm stand against the Army proposal and communicated that stand intelligently and consistently to the media, the public at large and tribal members for more than a year.

The tribe leveraged its unique role as a sovereign nation, on par with the federal government, to thoughtfully and forcefully oppose the permanent siting of HIMARS at JBLM. All residents of Western Washington, especially those on the I-5 corridor, owe the tribe their sincere thanks for taking the lead to stop this senseless proposal.

Moving HIMARS to JBLM would have negatively impacted our youth, elders, wildlife, pets and potentially salmon in the rivers and Sound, not to speak of our peace of mind.

Thanks also to the News Tribune for its coverage of the issue.

This story was originally published March 15, 2017 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Thanks to Nisqually Tribe: No HIMARS thanks to Nisqually Tribe."