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VP's Blackhawks touch down
Landings on protected land irk neighbors as Cheney begins a month of vacation in Jackson Hole.

By Bill Curran

A trio of Blackhawk helicopters carrying Vice President Dick Cheney used protected land in Puzzleface Ranch as a landing and launching pad Sunday, witnesses reported.

The administration's mechanical birds buzzed Skyline Pond, which is osprey and trumpeter swan habitat, 18 times through three landings and takeoffs, neighbor J.C. Whitfield said Tuesday.

The Nature Conservancy holds a conservation easement on the ranch that under normal circumstances would not permit a helicopter landing or take-off, said Laurie Andrews, southern Yellowstone project director of the Conservancy.

A helicopter would not be permitted to touch down on the protected Puzzleface Ranch "unless it was an emergency landing," Andrews said. A Secret Service spokesman confirmed there was no emergency but offered no other explanation. Another agent did not return calls seeking comment.

Established helipads can be found at Jackson Hole Airport and Teton Village, which is about the same distance from Cheney's Teton Pines home as the Puzzleface Ranch, which is located on the south side of Highway 22.

Alan John, Puzzleface manager, said Monday the Secret Service "made one-time request for security purposes."

John, who also is a sergeant with the Jackson Police Department, said he saw the vice president getting on and off one of the Blackhawks.

The helicopters first landed just before noon Sunday, then took off quickly, Whitfield said. They returned mid-afternoon and left after 20 minutes; the Blackhawks returned for the final time at about 7:30 p.m. and left the ranch soon after, she said.

Others saw the helicopters fly past the site of the East Table fire and head east past Daniel and toward a ranch on the New Fork River.

Teton County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Lindsey Moss, who is the county's Secret Service liaison, said he had no knowledge of the helicopter activity. However, he said the Secret Service often changes the route used by Cheney, as a security measure.

Melinda Kornblum, who owns Puzzleface Ranch with her husband David, said the couple has no intention of "establishing a heliport on the ranch." Kornblum said the helicopters landed near the ranch's barn, which is "nowhere near the pond."

Andrews said conservation easements on the ranch offer different levels of protection. Areas near the pond are guarded more closely, she said, though Cheney's landing site also would not fly for helicopter use.

Andrews said the easement, which was the first such agreement in Wyoming and granted in 1978, does not specifically prohibit helicopters. "The language has gotten much tighter in easements," she said. "[However] there are some things that no matter what we write into easements we can't [prevent]." She listed Sunday's vice presidential activities among them.

Neighbors and bird watchers worried about the impact Cheney's flight patterns might have on young osprey nesting near the pond.

Bert Raynes, a neighbor and author of Jackson Hole bird watching treatises, said Cheney's convoy could have proved fatal for the osprey. "A couple of days earlier it could have been a disaster," Raynes said. "I don't think it's helpful to any of the water fowl at all to have them land there."

And Whitfield questioned the appropriateness of flying helicopters above a pond being restored with public money to make it better habitat for birds. "To turn around and have helicopters fly over them is not consistent with a conservation attitude," she said.

Ranch manager John expressed a hardier view of the birds. "The osprey, they could care less; they're still there today," he said.

In November 2002, the Kornblums, Nature Conservancy, Teton Conservation District, Ducks Unlimited and Wyoming Game and Fish Department began a program to improve water habitat.

Cheney's Jackson Hole vacation began with a less-noted landing at Jackson Hole Airport on Friday night.

Jennifer Millerwise, Cheney's spokeswoman, said the vice president and his wife Lynne Cheney will spend most of August in the valley.

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