Interdisciplinary Minor in Global Sustainability

University of California, Irvine

Issue Guide: Keep Mercenary Training Camp Out of San Diego Backcountry!

by Peter Bryant

A private company, Blackwater USA, with close ties to the Bush administration and major funding from the State Department, trains mercenaries for duty in Iraq and other countries. It is said to have trained the world’s most powerful mercenary army.

Blackwater wants to build a training center on an 800-acre ranch about 45 miles east of San Diego, near the community of Potrero. The camp would include firearm ranges, a live-fire tactical training area, an "urban simulation training area," a "tactical driving track," a helipad, "ship simulators," and other military training installations.

These ranch now consists of valley floor and mountain foothills filled with grasslands, oak woodlands, chaparral, and wetlands, surrounded by undeveloped public lands including parts of Cleveland National Forest. The site is a foraging area for Golden Eagles and contains several rare plant species, including the Tecate tarplant.

Write to San Diego County Supervisors about whether they should issue a Major Use Permit to allow the camp on the site.

Take Action: Keep Mercenary Training Camp Out of San Diego Backcountry!

What's At Stake: Keep Mercenary Training Camp Out of San Diego Backcountry!

San Diego Reader | "Federal Judge Says Blackwater Can Go Ahead with Shooting Range; City Attorney Protests Decision" by Scam Diego

Write to:

Supervisors Bill Horn, Diane Jacob, Greg Cox, Pam Slater-Price and Ron Robers at this address:

County Administration Center
1600 Pacific Highway
San Diego, CA 92101

Other issue guides

Your comments and suggestions on this document are welcome. Please send them to:
Dr. Peter J. Bryant (pjbryant@uci.edu)
School of Biological Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92717, USA
Phone (714) 824-4714 Fax (714) 824-3571