Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo, asked the U.S. Army today not to use its eminent domain powers to expand the Pinon Canyon training area in southeast Colorado.
In a letter to Keith Eastin, assistant secretary of the Army, Salazar suggested the Army consider a number of concepts in its contentious plan to triple the size of its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site near Trinidad.
Salazar said the Army should consider leasing land from private landowners, allowing public access to cultural and historic sites, buying its supplies from local farms and stores, allow grazing to continue on the training land, and create an economic development fund that would sustain the communities there.
“In addition, the Army should demonstrate that its plans for expansion … do not involve the use of eminent domain, are fiscally responsible and protect the agricultural, natural, cultural and environmental heritage of the region,” he wrote.
Additionally, the Army should show that its plans “are fully necessary for the training of our soldiers, thoroughly consider alternate sites and smaller acreage levels and are available for public scrutiny, discussion and comment.”
The Army announced last Fall that Fort Carson will likely expand troop levels by about 40 percent. To accommodate the extra training of those troops, Fort Carson said it is exploring the idea of nearly tripling the 240,000-acre Pinon Canyon site by an additional 418,000 acres, most of which is either privately owned or of significant historical and natural value. The land includes the largest site of dinosaur tracks in North America, a portion of the Santa Fe Trail and national grasslands.
In February, the Army received a waiver to a national moratorium against acquiring major pieces of land and announced it would begin drafting an environmental impact statement on the land it wants for expansion.
Local landowners and communities are adamantly opposed to the expansion with many declaring they will not sell.
State Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh, introduced a bill last week that would revoke the Army’s permission to use eminent domain. McKinley said the bill would force the Army to make a better argument for why it needs to expand.
