The U.S. Navy is pausing SEAL training at Washington state parks while a legal battle ensues in court.
“It is difficult to find peace in the woods when armed frogmen might be lurking behind every tree,” lawyers for the Whidbey Environmental Action Network, the group behind the lawsuit, argued in a brief filed last month, per Fox News.
The Navy has used Washington parks for over 30 years for cold water training and other special operations exercises, as the area offers a great environment to simulate overseas operations.
“This area provides a unique environment of cold water, extreme tidal changes, multi-variant currents, low visibility, complex underwater terrain, climate and rigorous land terrain, which provides an advanced training environment,” Navy spokesman Joe Overton said.
Unfortunately, thanks to environmental “weakos,” the Navy’s use of Washington’s shorelines has come under fire.
“I do not care to catch a glimpse of apparently armed men skulking around and I DEFINITELY do not want to risk having my young grandchildren see such a sight,” a resident wrote to state regulators during a public comment period.
The several complaints led to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission in a 4 to 3 vote to agree to a more limited training, prompting a lawsuit to block the use of the state park’s completely.
The lawsuit argues that the training may discourage residents from using the parks.
“Although there are several Navy properties in the area, they do not provide the full range of environments needed for this training to be as realistic as possible,” Overton said.
