AOPA Responds to NWS & FAA

This is a well written letter - could be used as a template for our lobbying. The AOPA letter calls for SRMPs - we saw that SRMPs were staged goat shows with predetermined outcomes. Time to call your congress-folks again - safety is the concern that needs to be emphasized. SRMPs should be held that actually listen to the stakeholders and make informed decisions, not predetermined ones. The closures of the NWS sites' augmentation is part of the turf battle between NWS and FAA. No augmenter at St. Paul Island, for instance, will result in major loss of access in and out of the village, and/or deaths due to ACFT MSHP.
The cost shifting the agencies seek should be done at the expense of their own management.
The NWS thinks the answer to bad ASOS/AWOS data is more units - of which they have a solar-powered unit being deployed in numerous locations so far where road-accessible throughout (an oxymoron as there are few roads) Alaska. The HADS units produce a similar - and similarly inaccurate - product to ASOS.
The war ain't over folks, just morphed again. All the agencies are in panic mode over budget cutting, and are looking to protect their own jobs.