Army: Facilities can handle 6,700 more soldiers The Army issued a report Friday that Fort Carson and its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site can handle an extra 6,700 soldiers, but just barely. Ranchers say the report bolsters opposition to the Pinon expansion. On Friday, the Army released its environmental impact statement on how Fort Carson and Pinon Canyon will accommodate the extra 6,700 troops. A similar plan for the 11,400 troops was approved last year. ‘‘The Army’s position is that the present facilities . . . marginally provide sufficient land to train assigned soldiers and units adequately,’’ according to the environmental impact statement. Lon Robertson, a Kim-area rancher and president of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, said Friday that the Army's statement is what area ranchers have been saying all along. "We have been saying that the Army is not using what it has. Hopefully the current economic crisis has got somebody thinking a little bit about what they are doing with our dollars," Robertson said. "This (expansion) is something the government does not need to spend money on. It's obviously not needed if they are saying they have room now. It goes to show that we have to keep our guard up and keep after them. We are not going to slow down at all." Robertson said the latest news from the Army doesn't mean ranchers are out of the woods just yet. "We are not breathing a sigh of relief. I think this is just one more example we can use to put out in front of people saying that there doesn't need to be an expansion," Robertson said....