As the Army prepares to release a revised “area of interest” map to expand Fort Carson’s Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeastern Colorado, ranchers say they will continue to fight the plan, which already has affected the local economy.
Tonight in Trinidad, farmers and ranchers will receive a more defined map of the 418,577-acre expansion site. Fort Carson said it needs the land to train an additional 10,000 troops arriving in the next two years. The Army will use eminent domain to acquire the land if it cannot reach deals with willing sellers.
Mack Louden, a rancher whose land near Branson has been in the family since 1902, said it does not matter where the Army draws its lines.
“The economy will be flattened no matter where they do it. It may be just another map that they revise down the line. In doesn’t really matter where the 418,000 acres is coming from; it’s going to kill the economy,” Louden said. “We’ll just kind of wait and see, and we’ll react accordingly, but our stance is such that we want no expansion and no money appropriated for expansion.”
Since word of the Army’s plans spread nearly 18 months ago, more than 500 farmers and ranchers have joined together to oppose the plans.
The Colorado legislature passed a bill this year saying the Army can’t use its eminent-domain power to force landowners to sell their land for the expansion, a move that some lawmakers have said is largely symbolic. U.S. Reps. John Salazar and Marilyn Musgrave say they oppose expansion of the maneuver site.
Louis Ossola, owner of Ossola Land & Realty Co., has had a tough time lately trying to sell land where the Army wants to expand. Prospective buyers still call him, but conversations don’t last long.
“I just talked to another guy yesterday, and the first question out of his mouth: ‘Is that in the Piñon Canyon acquisition area?”‘ Ossola said. “People don’t even want to come look at it until they know whether it’s going to be in the acquisition or not.”
Ossola said the price of an acre of land has flat-lined because of the Army’s acquisition plans.
Ossola said that two years ago, he sold a 13,200-acre ranch that brought $200 an acre, and last year he sold a 6,000-acre property that brought $250 an acre. He said it will be tough to get $300 an acre – except on smaller parcels.
This year, he had a 137,000-acre ranch under contract, but the deal fell through when the Army announced it was moving forward with plans to more than double its current training ground northeast of Trinidad.
Dee McNutt, a spokeswoman for Fort Carson, said there will be no discussion tonight about actual land sales – for those willing or unwilling to sell.
While the Army has said it has “willing sellers,” McNutt said Fort Carson has no list of property owners who want to negotiate with the federal government.
State Rep. Wes McKinley, D-Walsh, said he’s skeptical of the term “willing seller.”
“I wonder, if they’re willing to sell, have they talked about price?” McKinley said.
Kendra Doherty, a ranch hand on the land her family has owned for seven generations, said there is a lot of anxiety among landowners.
“They might have thought about (selling), but they are still unanimous, and they’re still trying to fight it,” Doherty said. “They’re not going to get what it is worth, and to us, it is priceless.”
She said she believes it will take a higher power to get the Army to back off, to understand the loss to farmers and ranchers.
“There are people who are afraid, but in some ways, you can’t be afraid,” she said. “You can’t be afraid, you can’t live in fear of something that may or may not happen, because God is in control and whatever is going to happen is going to happen.”
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
