Even though he’s not sure the state has the power to say “no” to the federal government, Gov. Bill Ritter today signed a bill aimed at stopping the Army from using eminent domain to expand a training site in southeastern Colorado.
Ranchers have mobilized to fight the Army’s proposal to expand the Piñon Canyon maneuver site by 418,000 acres – or 653 square miles. That’s nearly triple the land the Army now owns, and the expansion would swallow up dozens of ranches.
The Army still is studying how the expansion would be accomplished, but officials have said they can’t rule out the use of eminent domain if the plans move ahead.
Eminent domain is the power to force a landowner to sell to make way for a project for the public good.
As ranchers, students and lawmakers looked on, Ritter said he didn’t want the new law to raise expectations that the state could definitely stop the Army from forcing ranchers to sell. But he said it is a tool the state could use to help protect ranchers whose families have been living in the area since the turn of the last century.
“The reason I’m doing this has everything to do with the ranching community and the people who would be impacted by eminent domain,” said Ritter, who visited the area while campaigning last year.
Ritter said he’s aware of the important role that the Army, including Fort Carson south of Colorado Springs, plays in both Iraq and the state economy. After the signing, he said he would work to maintain Colorado’s relationship with the Army.
Backers admit no other state has tested this legal issue but they believe the new law is supported by a provision in the U.S. Constitution requiring states to give their consent to any land taken by the federal government to build forts or arsenals.
But supporters said they don’t plan to find out what the courts think. Lon Robertson, a rancher from Kim and a leader of the opposition effort, said the next step would be to convince Congress not to provide any funding for the expansion, armed with the show of support from Colorado lawmakers.
“It’s from the grass roots, and it speaks to the heart of the nation,” Robertson said.
