COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—The Army is scaling back its plans to expand the Pinon Canyon maneuver site in southeastern Colorado.
The Army had proposed acquiring 418,000 acres—or 653 square miles—to nearly triple the size of the Fort Carson training area. Now the Army says it will only seek 100,000 acres—or 156 square miles—because of opposition from ranchers.
Keith Eastin, an assistant Army secretary overseeing the deal, was in Colorado Springs Thursday to discuss the compromise, which is focused on buying land from willing sellers rather than seizing it condemnation.
“If someone wants to sell it, we would like to buy,” Eastin told The Gazette. “We believe there are willing sellers.”
The Army is also pledging 100 civilian jobs at the training site and $140 million in construction for improvements if the Army wins approval to buy the land.
Eastin said he will look for sellers in the coming months. The Army won’t be able to buy the land until Congress approves the funding.
The new plan is outlined in a report requested by Colorado Sens. Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard to examine the impacts of expanding the training site.
The report didn’t change the minds of area landowners who say the Army shouldn’t add any land to the 235,000 acres it already owns outside Trinidad.
“It hasn’t made sense and it’s still not going to make sense,” said Lon Robertson, a rancher and store owner from Kim who heads the Piñon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition.
Salazar is trying to extend a ban on spending money on the expansion for another year. The Democrat said he will review the Army’s report with local officials, residents and the Army.
The Government Accountability Office will provide an independent review of the report, Salazar added.
The military says it needs to expand Pinon Canyon to accommodate growth at Fort Carson, south of Colorado Springs, and changing weapons and tactics. Opponents fear expansion would hurt the economy by taking land out of agriculture.
