PUEBLO — The Air Force is revising its plan for low-altitude training flights over Colorado to avoid the Eastern Plains, including the Army’s Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site northeast of Trinidad, according to U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton’s office.
“The Air Force told us they intend to move the proposed training range to over western Colorado, away from Piñon Canyon and southern Colorado,” said Tipton’s chief of staff, Mike Hesse.
The Air Force stirred up opposition across the region and in New Mexico last year when it announced plans for low-altitude training flights of V-22 Ospreys and other special-operations aircraft out of Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. The missions were to fly as low as 200 feet in the proposed 94,000-square-mile training range that covered New Mexico and western Colorado and extended as far east as La Junta — an area that includes both Piñon Canyon and Fort Carson.
The announcement set off political fireworks among Colorado ranchers who have been fighting Army plans to expand the 238,000-acre Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site since 2005. Opponents immediately accused the Pentagon of opening a new front in the Piñon Canyon battle.
The Air Force is doing a required study of the proposed training range and will announce a revised plan next month. Pueblo Chieftain
