DENVER—Sen. Ken Salazar proposed Wednesday that the Army wait a year before deciding whether to go through with a massive expansion of its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeast Colorado.
Salazar, D-Colo., introduced two amendments to a military funding bill that would impose a “cooling-off period” on the hotly disputed expansion and would ask the Army to study whether the expansion is needed.
Action on the proposal could come as soon as Thursday.
The Army wants to increase the 368-square-mile site to about 1,000 square miles. It says it needs more space to accommodate a new brigade coming to Fort Carson and to allow for better training for modern warfare.
The Army also says the expansion would allow Fort Carson soldiers to train in the state instead of going elsewhere.
But ranchers neighboring the site still fear the Army will force them to give up their land. They also say the expansion would take too much land out of agricultural production, damaging the economy.
The Army has said it hopes to acquire all the land it needs from willing sellers.
“My goal here is to create a time-out to allow for a cooling-off period between those who oppose the Pinon Canyon Army Maneuver Site expansion and those who support it,” Salazar said in a teleconference with journalists.
Salazar noted that a base expansion commission report in 2005 said existing terrain was adequate for proposed expansions of troops.
Salazar said the Army also needs to say what kind of economic assistance it could provide southeastern Colorado, and whether it would be possible to lease land for maneuvers rather than buy it.
The first-term senator has been under pressure from ranchers surrounding the site to oppose the expansion.
Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., and Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., introduced similar legislation in the House calling for a delay in the expansion, which was passed by an overwhelming margin.
