The Army is not giving up plans to expand its Piñon Canyon training site, but it now hopes to sign long-term leases instead of buying Colorado ranchland.
Keith Eastin, assistant secretary of the Army for installations and environment, said Friday that the Army has “taken eminent domain and condemnation off the table” and is “concentrating on leasing portions of the land” south of its existing site.
He said the leases would need to be long-term — more than 20 years and less than 99 years — to amortize the construction costs on the expanded training site. Eastin emphasized that no agreement is imminent.
“We’re talking with a number of landowners,” he said, but “there is no deal. We’re nowhere close to a deal.”
Earlier this week, sources identified one landowner willing to lease property to the Army as Denver businessman Craig Walker, who owns 70,000 acres south of the training ground. Congressional sources said Friday that Walker backed away after his interest was reported.
The Army has been trying for years to enlarge the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, about 100 miles southeast of Fort Carson. But its plans have drawn fire from ranchers, farmers and the state’s congressional delegation, who have questioned the need for the expansion and its potential effect on the local agricultural economy.
In response, the Army scaled back its proposed acquisition last year, from 418,000 acres to 100,000 acres. When reports of the lease plan surfaced this week, members of the Colorado delegation again objected.
Reps. John Salazar and Betsey Markey, both Democrats, are requesting an investigation of the Army’s efforts to acquire the training-site land despite a congressional amendment prohibiting the use of funds to expand the Piñon Canyon area.
Rancher Lon Robertson, president of the Piñon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, accused Eastin of proceeding with acquisition plans in defiance of Colorado’s elected representatives. He also said leasing land was not an acceptable alternative.
“If you lease land and somebody fires weapons on it, it’s acquired. Cows will never graze it again,” he said.
Denver Post staff writer Mike Riley contributed to this report.
