PUEBLO, Colo.—A Las Animas County commissioner says Army officials told him they’ve found someone willing to sell up to 100,000 acres to expand the the Pinon Canyon training site.
Commissioner Jim Montoya says he was told about the seller last week.
The Army wants to nearly triple the size of the site to about 1,000 square miles, saying it needs the room to train more soldiers on new weapons and tactics.
Army spokesman Dave Foster said in an e-mail Thursday that the Army has had limited, informal contact with landowners regarding potential willingness and unwillingness to sell property to the Army. He said the 100,000 acre figure—or 156 square miles—was never related to any particular landowner.
Foster said the figure was based on a discussion of Army considerations of what training benefits it could get from adding less than the land it originally sought.
Some ranch owners oppose the expansion, fearing they would be forced to sell their land.
Craig Walker of Denver, who owns about 100,000 acres near the southeast Colorado site, says he has not offered to sell to the military. Walker says he opposes the expansion.
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Information from: The Pueblo Chieftain,
