Chieftan - Udall, Bennet Push for Pledge Not to Expand Pinon Canyon Site

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By Peter Roper

Fort Carson officials have said for months the Army no longer has the immediate need or money to pursue expanding the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site -- but Colorado Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet want Army leaders to say so in writing for Southeastern Colorado ranchers.

The two Democrats sent a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh asking for that written declaration Thursday, a statement that would signal at least a short-term surrender on the Army's part in the five-year fight between landowners and the Pentagon over the bitterly contested effort to expand the Army's 238,000-acre training area northeast of Trinidad.

"We have heard from numerous ranchers and other residents in the region that they have put off making necessary improvements to their land and planning for the future because they fear that their land will be condemned -- if not in the next year, then in the years to come," the Udall-Bennet letter said.

"Fundamentally, this region needs enough certainty so lenders and landowners can make prudent land-use and financial decisions," the letter went on. Noting the Army cannot commit to training or expansion needs further than five years out, the two senators said the Army should give the ranchers around Pinon Canyon a written assurance that expansion is no longer an objective for at least that long.

"As such, we believe a formal clarification of the Army's intent would be beneficial to all parties," the letter said.

McHugh's office had no comment on the senators' letter Thursday.

Army Brig. Gen. James Doty, Fort Carson's commander, wasn't as reticent and said at a luncheon that he welcomed the Udall-Bennet request as well as any written statement from the Army on Pinon Canyon's future.

"As I have said repeatedly in recent months, the Army no longer believes there is any need for expanding Pinon Canyon right now and there isn't any money in the foreseeable future (five years) to do that," Doty said. "As soldiers, we will always follow whatever policy is decided by our nation's civilian leadership, but getting a letter from the Army to that effect (no expansion) would make my life easier."

Ranchers fighting the expansion of Pinon Canyon have complained since 2006 that the threat of possible land condemnation has driven down their land values and cast an economic pall over the region.

The two primary citizen groups opposing the Army on Pinon Canyon -- Not 1 More Acre! and the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition -- have been pressing for Udall, Bennet or other Colorado lawmakers to revoke the February 2007 waiver that the Defense Department granted the Army to begin acquiring more land around Pinon Canyon. At that time, the Army was seeking to nearly triple the size of the training area, asking the Pentagon's permission to add another 418,000 acres.

Ranchers have argued that the Pentagon would take a large step to reassuring landowners if it revoked the 2007 waiver -- although it could also be restored with the pen stroke by any secretary of defense.

The Udall-Bennet letter stops short of calling for revoking the land acquisition waiver, saying the senators understand that could cause complications for the Pentagon in other land acquisitions.

Lon Robertson, a Kim rancher and president of the opposition coalition, was skeptical about what an Army letter might signify if the Pentagon retains the 2007 authorization to expand Pinon Canyon.

"We appreciate that the senators understand our financial situation," Robertson said. "But I wonder what a written statement by the Army would be worth if it holds onto the authorization to expand when money becomes available."

Pinon Canyon is located in the 3rd Congressional District where former Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., was a key leader in opposing expansion. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Colo., now represents the district and Thursday, his spokesman said the freshman congressman commended Udall and Bennet for their letter.

Tipton is looking for a long-term solution to the controversy, Josh Green said in an e-mail.

"In order for that to happen, there needs to be trust on all sides of the issue and the congressman is committed to working to build that trust," he said.

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