It has become increasingly apparent in recent years that the Army, due to changing tactical needs, shrinking budgets and local opposition, will not be expanding its Piñon Canyon training site.
That being the case, it’s time for the Army to take the formal step of rescinding the land-acquisition waiver that would have allowed the Piñon Canyon expansion. Southern Colorado landowners who have felt threatened by the proposed expansion deserve the security and peace of mind.
Fortunately, the Army may finally be on the same page as landowners — or at least headed that way. This was underscored Tuesday by of Katherine Hammack, an Army assistant secretary who oversees land use.
“Now is the right time to re-evaluate the waiver,” , according to The Gazette.
We couldn’t agree more.
Since 1990, the Department of Defense has had a moratorium on major land acquisitions. To get around it for Piñon, the Army needed a waiver and sought one in 2005, asking to acquire 418,000 acres near Fort Carson (a figure later whittled down to a 100,000 acre proposal).
The Army got the waiver, setting off fervent opposition and statements by Army officials about the site was to prepare troops for combat.
There was at the time about opposition to the Piñon Canyon the future of Fort Carson, the Army installation near Colorado Springs.
Times have changed.
On Tuesday, Hammack talked of how the Army is in an era of “limited resources.” It is downsizing, she said, and reducing the number of brigade combat teams.
An expanded Piñon Canyon, it seems, is no longer necessary even from the Army’s point of view.
But even if the Army has changed its mind, it’s still appropriate to rescind the waiver and give southern Colorado residents greater assurance that they can carry on unaffected by the specter of an expanded training site.
