The state's two U.S. senators want the military to determine how much of the 2,800 acres at the Air Force Tracking Station in New Boston is actually needed for military operations.

Sent this week, a letter from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte is the latest in a dispute that has raged for months over the heavily wooded property. The base is available to active military and reservists, as well as retired career military members and civilian Defense Department employees. It offers opportunities for hunting, fishing, hiking and camping; it even boasts tennis courts.

But the gate is shut to veterans who did not make a career of military service.

Shaheen and Ayotte made the inquiry in a letter to Michael Donley, secretary of the Air Force. The two told the New Hampshire Union Leader they wrote the letter after hearing from veterans who want greater access to the land.

“It has recently come to our attention that the Air Force may only need a fraction of the land at New Boston Air Force Station to support the 23d Space Operations Squadron mission,” the two wrote.

The two stressed they support the work of the satellite tracking station and the need for a significant buffer.

“However, it is not clear that the Air Force needs to retain all 2,826 acres of land at New Boston to accomplish these objectives,” the two wrote. Both are members of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, which oversees military matters in the U.S. Senate.

They asked Donley to analyze the question and notify them if any of the land is not required for the mission of the base.

In July, the two said they wanted to work with the Pentagon to make sure the land was as accessible as possible to all citizens who serve or have served the military.

Both offices did not respond to questions about a potential transfer of ownership.

An email to the Defense Department about the procedure for disposition of surplus military land went unanswered Wednesday.

“My personal opinion is there's a lot of wasted land there that could be given back to the public,” said Dwight Lovejoy, chairman of New Boston selectmen.

The land is forested with pine, oak and hemlock and home to about 150 species of wildlife, including deer, bear, moose, bobcat and otter.

Most New Hampshire bat species live there.

And 46 camp sites are scattered among four ponds.

It also carries its own significant folklore.

The property includes the 1,200-foot Joe English Hill.

According to legend, Joe English was a Native American in the early 18th century who befriended settlers despite hostility from his fellow Indians.

At one point, a few of his fellows attacked him and pursued him up the hill.

When they reached him atop the 300-foot cliffs, they fell to their death and Joe English survived.

The land served as a practice bombing range from 1942 to 1956.

In the late 1950s, the Air Force built the tracking station. Within the last decade or so, the Air Force has spent $2.4 million upgrading it, Lovejoy said.

In the 2000s, the Defense Department cleared the surface of about 1,321 acres of unexploded bombs.

In May 2011, the previous commander opened the cleared portion to Air Force members stationed in New Boston and civilian employees, said Dick Gamache, a retired Army sergeant-major who said he has hunted the property since the 1970s.

Then this past April, the new commander broadened access to its current status — active military and reserves, retired military and civilian Defense Department employees.

Gamache said that is the standard access policy at bases across the country.

“I wish they would leave it alone the way it is,” he said. Retired military members earned the right for access to military bases, Gamache said, and he doesn't want to see the Air Force lose control of the land.

He estimated that the tracking station only needs 500 acres for its purpose.

But the Air Force should retain the property for safety reasons, Gamache said.

The military only cleared unexploded ordnance from the surface of about half the land, he said.

“There's still stuff in the ground they haven't addressed,” Gamache said.

mhayward@unionleader.com