DENVER — Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn is asking Colorado’s senators, both Democrats, to help save the Army’s plan to expand a training site in the southeast corner of the state.
Lamborn said Friday that Colorado could lose the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site expansion project because of opposition from ranchers and some elected officials.
Lamborn said the Army would spend $140 million to expand the site, and the annual operating budget would be $9 million, including payroll for 100 new, full-time workers.
“This is a very attractive prospect for any state, particularly when the economy is still so fragile,” he said in a written statement.
Lamborn asked Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet to support the expansion.
Udall said he hasn’t taken a stand against the expansion but added, “time is running out for the Army at this particular site.”
In a written statement, Udall said a property owner who was willing to lease land for the site withdrew the offer, and that the Army has said it doesn’t plan to move forward on the expansion this year.
Udall said he is committed to “ensuring that Colorado military bases remain strong.”
Bennet released a statement saying landowners are “rightly concerned” about the effects of expansion and that the Army needs to provide a stronger justification for any growth at the site.
He said he supports Colorado’s military bases.
The Army says it needs to enlarge the 370-square-mile site to about 525 square miles to accommodate new weapons, tactics and troops at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs.
Some people who live near the site say the expansion would take too much land out of agricultural production. They also say the Army hasn’t shown it needs more space.
U.S. Reps. John Salazar and Betsy Markey, both Colorado Democrats, have said they want to introduce legislation to bar the expansion.
The Colorado General Assembly this year passed a bill barring the sale of state land for the site. Gov. Bill Ritter plans to sign it sometime next week, said his spokesman, Evan Dreyer.
U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said this week the Army should give up on expanding Piñon Canyon and conduct more exercises at Fort Bliss, Texas, and other posts that have more space.
Hutchison is the ranking Republican on a Senate subcommittee on military construction.
“The Army remains committed to (Piñon Canyon), but Sen. Hutchison’s move makes it crystal-clear that if Colorado doesn’t reciprocate that commitment, other states are willing to step in,” Lamborn said.
