Latest news with #Duncanson
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Fort Benning upgrades range to accommodate new sniper rifle
The Army is upgrading a multipurpose sniper training range at Fort Benning, Georgia to handle new weapons that can shoot farther than the current range allows. The improvements are part of a series of modernization efforts scheduled over the next seven years, according to an Army release. As part of the modernization initiative, Burroughs Range was upgraded to extend a section of the range from 800 meters to 1,100 meters. A future upgrade includes some target areas being expanded to distances of up to 1,200 meters, offering improved training opportunities for soldiers using the range. 'The current sniper rifle system used by the Army has an effective range of about 1,000 meters,' said Shane Duncanson, Fort Benning range planner. Newest sniper rifle for soldiers, Marines takes on final hurdle before fielding The Army's newest sniper rifle, the Mk22, can strike targets as far as 1,500 to 1,800 meters, Duncanson said. The Mk22 is a multi-caliber, bolt-action rifle that replaces the M2010, M110 and M107 sniper rifles. 'The requirements for changes to the training ranges came from new weapons systems being introduced,' said John Nolt, acting director of Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization & Security at Fort Benning. Completed in 1976, Burroughs Range was initially designed as a heavy sniper training facility, with armored targets placed throughout the training area, according to the release. Additionally, a two-meter tall, 225-meter-long, 21-meter-deep berm, complete with a moving target rail system to its rear, is located on the west side of the range at 800 meters from the shooting positions. 'As the battlefield changes, our training ranges have to change, too,' said Jason Olive, Fort Benning range officer. 'As Burroughs Range transitions to the Army's newest Multipurpose Sniper Range, the requirement for a moving armored target was eliminated, which required the removal of the berm and tracks behind it, allowing additional line of sight and an area to incorporate the Army's newest trackless moving target technology.' The construction work at Burroughs Range involved leveling the berm, demolishing the obsolete rail system — which featured a 44-centimeter concrete base and a 20-centimeter rebar barrier extending along the entire 225-meter length — gradually leveling the land behind the berm, removing trees and clearing debris throughout the range. 'Burroughs Range was built back in a day when 1,000 meters was the farthest someone could shoot, and typically a solider would train at 600-800 meters,' Duncanson said. 'We're in the process of doing small incremental improvements so that we can use the new weapon systems and rounds at 1,200 meters.' Personnel from Fort Benning, as well as the Georgia Army National Guard's 177th Engineer Support Company, 878th Engineer Battalion out of Augusta, Georgia, and the Army Reserve's 718th Engineer Company, 926th Engineer Battalion out of Birmingham, Alabama all contributed to modifying the range. 'This type of training allows us to meet directly on the job site with our active duty and Reserve counterparts,' said Warrant Officer James Jarrett, a construction officer with 177th Engineer Support Company. The ongoing modernization of training ranges across Fort Benning is focused on improving soldiers' training, readiness and operational capabilities, according to the release.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Potential Wave Pool Project Targeted for San Francisco Bay Area
Wave pool projects are proposed all over the world on a regular basis. So much so that it's tough to keep track of them all. Actually, it's impossible to keep up. But even when a potential project is in its earliest stages and years away from opening (or even breaking ground), it can grab our attention simply for its scale or prominent location. Neptune Surf Club fits the latter — a wave pool targeting a 2029 opening in Alameda, California, an island in the San Francisco Bay. The name is an homage to a depression-era amusement park nestled in the bay between San Francisco and Oakland. It was once a popular waterfront destination in the area until the late 1930s, but the new concept holding the historic 'Neptune Beach' name would offer an entirely different attraction a century later. A web page for the park doesn't offer many details about the project, but a Wave Pool Mag feature highlighted plans for a $50-million, privately funded development anchored by an Endless Surf wave pool. The park will also house a canoe club, camping/glamping, food and beverage, sailing center, shoreline trail, pump track, and boat launch ramp, according to Wave Pool Mag. While that list sounds like a lot, design specialist William Duncanson told Wave Pool the park will follow a 'go small or go home' approach, 'as a way to focus on the core offering (surf) and strip out any big diversions that don't add to the surf experience that we're trying to deliver to the community.' Notably, this would be the Bay Area's first surf park. The drive from Alameda, across the Bay Bridge, into the city, and out to Ocean Beach, San Francisco is about 40 minutes, if the traffic is manageable. Santa Cruz is about 90 minutes south, while Half Moon Bay is approximately an hour south of Alameda. That puts the proposed surf park within range of three prominent surf zones and, by virtue, a wide range of surfers. On top of this, Duncanson seems to suggest that the project fills another need as well: capitalizing on land that currently isn't accessible to the public. 'The city has been anxious to have a plan for this area so they can create a capital campaign and implementation timeline,' he said. 'They see us as a catalyst for this effort. Separately, this area just has so much potential. It is already a vibrant community with services, activities, and businesses which we think we can plug into and amplify that ecosystem.'
CBC
23-03-2025
- General
- CBC
Watershed groups on the lookout for little brown bug-eating birds
Volunteers sought to scour beaches and rivers for survivors after bank swallow population decimated A New Brunswick non-profit that promotes biodiversity and sustainable ecology is asking people to be on the lookout for bank swallows. The Kennebecasis Watershed Restoration Committee says the little brown and white birds help control insect populations and are at risk in the province, mainly because of pesticides and habitat loss. As much as 99 per cent of the bank swallow population has been lost, said Caitlyn Duncanson, the group's biodiversity co-ordinator. "Because they like to nest in steeper eroding banks, often these banks are stabilized from people putting rocks on the shoreline and things like that. So their burrows are being affected and they can't find a place to nest," she said. Additionally, the use of neonicotinoid insecticides in forestry and agriculture have killed off a lot of the insects that bank swallows eat, she said, citing a report from Environment and Climate Change Canada. Bank swallows prefer beetles and true bugs, but they'll eat pretty much any flying insect, said Heather Polowyk, an aerial insectivore conservation biologist with Birds Canada, based in Nova Scotia. Neonicotinoids are sprayed on a field or forest to deal with particular pests, but they also end up killing every other insect that comes in contact with the stuff, she said. The drop in population has taken place across Canada, said Polowyk, and the problem is even more widespread than that because bank swallows migrate and overwinter in South America. Elsewhere in the world, however, their populations are doing OK, she said. Bank swallows are known to burrow into sediment in colonies of 10 to thousands to nest, said Duncanson. In the 1960s, about 200 were counted during surveys in the Kennebecasis watershed in Penobsquis and Hampton, she said. The last time any were seen in the area was about 2015, she said, but that doesn't mean there are none around. The watershed committee has produced a new guide to help track down and protect any remaining colonies of bank swallows. It's available on their website: under the heading, reports and publications. Bank swallows are the smallest swallow species in North America, said Duncanson. Their head, wings, tail feathers and a band across the chest are brown, she said, while their underside, chin and a distinctive jawline strap are white. You can sometimes see bank swallow nesting holes along steep embankments when you're floating down river, she said. She'd like anyone who spots bank swallows or their nests to contact the Kennebecasis Watershed Restoration Committee or upload the location to an app such as iNaturalist or eBird. The committee is hoping to conserve those areas and to make sure they're not disturbed by humans. At least 70 potential bank swallow sites have been identified in the province, said Polowyk, along beaches, pits, quarries and rivers. "We have tons of sites across New Brunswick that are being monitored or are in need of monitors," she said. Anyone interested can register online at Most of the current volunteers are from a program called Healthy Coasts, she said. It's run by Nature N.B., and made up of a number of watershed organizations. There's a particular need for volunteers in the Edmundston and Woodstock areas, but there are also sites around Saint John, Fredericton and along the coast near Shediac. She didn't want to be more specific because she said it's better for the sensitive habitats if people stay away. One known and highly visible site is at Youghall Beach in Bathurst. It's being protected by roping off the area, making it a no-mow zone and planting vegetation, including willows, to stabilize the bank, said Duncanson. This spring, students from the local community college will be going there to do some more planting, said Polowyk. They took part in a native seed planting workshop and have been cultivating plants in little greenhouses fashioned from milk jugs, she said. Eventually, Polowyk hopes the swallow nest site will also become a place where people can collect native seeds, such as milkweed. She also hopes the success of the Bathurst project will encourage people in other communities to create, "living shorelines," and to consider bank swallows in their plans.
