The U.S. Navy, pressured by coastal residents has extended a comment period on its plans to double its area for training off the coasts of Northern California, Oregon and Washington.

The Navy is getting ready to finish its proposal for a Northwest Training Range Complex, covering a 126,000-square-mile expanse of ocean with a 34,000-square-mile airspace.

News of the Navy’s plans spread through e-mails and on blogs on the Internet two weeks ago as notices about public meetings were sent out. But many folks were outraged, contending there was insufficient public notice and too few public meetings. The deadline has been extended to Wednesday, Feb. 18.

New national security challenges and advancement in technology make it necessary, the Navy said.

“Recent world events have placed the U.S. military on heightened alert in the defense of the U.S. and in defense of allied nations,” the Navy said.

It would increase operations for air target services and surface-target services for locally-based aircraft and vessels. It would add a land-based electronic combat threat signal emitter in Washington for use by aircraft and vessels, develop a small-scale underwater training minefield for submarines and use a portable undersea tracking range for antisubmarine training.

The Navy started scoping meetings in 2007 to get input on its study for the training complex. The 60-day process started in July and included meetings held in September 2007. Only one was held in Oregon at Depoe Bay.

The Navy received 50 comments, 23 of which expressed concerns or opposition to the training’s impact on marine mammals, such as whales.

Bruce Mate, the director of the marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, said in an e-mail the Navy plans to use high-energy sonar, up to 235 decibels. The National Marine Fisheries Service, he said, limits the sounds of human activities to no more than 160 decibels.

“Yes, it’s certainly a concern to all whales,” said Jan Hodder, an associate professor at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.

After the scoping meetings in 2007, the Navy sent the 700-plus-page draft EIS to several federal regulatory agencies; several state regulatory agencies; only one Oregon public library, the Lincoln City Public Library and only one in California, the Humboldt County Library. Five libraries got it in Washington, along with several Indian tribes, every federal congressman and senator in all three West Coast states; Gov. Ted Kulongoski; state legislators, including Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay, Rep. Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, and Rep. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay; and a long list of individuals, of which only five were from Oregon.