Nature Conservancy denies role in aiding Pinon Canyon plan

Ranchers opposed to the Army's planned expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site are charging The Nature Conservancy environmental group with being the Army's silent partner, based on past and continuing agreements with Fort Carson to establish conservation easements around both the Mountain Post and the 238,000-acre Pinon Canyon training range. Using documents obtained by Freedom of Information Act requests, the Not 1 More Acre! group released two Army reports Thursday showing a 2002 cooperative agreement with The Nature Conservancy to acquire easements around both installations - as well as a hefty 2006 confidential report called "Pinon Vision" that outlines step-by-step how the Army intended to acquire up to 1.1 million acres around the training range by 2017. A key part of that expansion plans called for an 80,000-acre conservation zone along the Purgatoire River and the report says, "Based on preliminary discussions with the Nature Conservancy, there is a good possibility that the Conservancy will manage this buffer with appropriate recognition of Army requirements." Mack Louden, a board member of the rancher group, said opponents of the expansion have been suspicious of the conservation group's role in the Army planning during the nearly four-year battle over expanding Pinon Canyon. "They've been silent on the expansion issue and now it seems like they've been working against us all this time," Louden said Thursday...read more