Bishop says HAFB vulnerable to closure

Hill Air Force Base is indeed vulnerable to downsizing or closure during the next round of military cutbacks, according to Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah.

In a meeting with the Deseret Morning News Editorial Board this week, Bishop gave a report of his first year on the job and said Hill's future remains his top concern back in Washington.

"It is vulnerable now," he said Wednesday. "Everything is vulnerable right now."

Bishop believes if merit is the strongest consideration, then Hill is safe. But, "it could come down to pure politics," he said.

He explained he doesn't want to be an alarmist but said former GOP Rep. Jim Hansen is accurate with his recently voiced concerns about Hill's future.

To help Hill, Bishop said he led the charge to get one of the runways at the remote Michael Air Field at the Dugway Proving Ground lengthened by an extra 2,000 feet so it could serve as an emergency airstrip for F-16 fighters based at Hill. The planes, which use the nearby Utah Test and Training Range in the West Desert, require more space to land.

Bishop lobbied the state Legislature to fund the project at a cost of about $2 million.

Bishop also believes the state's effort will show the base closure committee that Utah is willing to help Hill.

Bishop is still finding a way to smooth out emergency access to some wilderness study areas around the test range. If a plane goes down there, he wants the Air Force to be able to go right in instead of having to contact several other government entities first. "I'm still a freshman," Bishop said of his Washington experience. "It's been a learning experience."

Bishop was also only one of eight in Washington who voted against the national "Do Not Call List." He's convinced, more than ever, that was a correct decision.

"The exclusions that are there are hypocritical. I'm feeling better about that all the time," he said.

He said it may cost as much as $13 million to regularly maintain the Do Not Call List — and some self-employed salesmen, who also can't go door-to-door, are having their livelihoods destroyed by it.

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E-mail: lynn@desnews.com