Army: No Pinon expansion for at least 5 years

Army Secretary John McHugh says the Pentagon has no plans to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in its five-year budget plan, which extends through 2016. In a letter this week to Colorado Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, McHugh acknowledged the public concern about expanding the 238,000-acre training range, but said that is no longer an Army goal. "Please be assured the Army has no plans to expand the boundaries of PCMS and, accordingly, has not requested any funds be programmed in the Department of the Army budget (FY 2012-16) for the acquisition of land at PCMS over the next five years," the letter, dated Monday, said. Both senators said the Army response was a first step toward rebuilding trust between the Army and ranchers in the Pinon Canyon area. Lon Robertson, a Kim-area rancher and president of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, said McHugh's letter wasn't very reassuring because ranchers have understood from the outset that this was a long-term campaign by the Army. "In their own words, the effort to expand is a 'long range campaign the Army will execute over a decade or more,’ ’’ Robertson said, quoting from a 2006 Army plan detailing how to add more than 1 million acres to the size of Pinon Canyon. "So the next five years ‘promise’ doesn't provide any breathing room for the region," he said. "If they are serious about not expanding, they should remove the waiver and then we'll start to believe they are, in fact, serious.". Robertson was referring to the February 2007 waiver that the Defense Department granted the Army to begin acquiring more land at Pinon Canyon. While the Army has been blocked at the congressional level and in the General Assembly from doing that, the waiver giving it permission to expand Pinon Canyon remains in effect and is a sore point with ranchers. Jean Aguerre, of the Not 1 More Acre! opposition group, said Udall and Bennet were "naive" if they believed McHugh's letter put the expansion issue to rest. She said the Army had a history of broken promises, defying court orders and even ignoring the funding ban that Congress placed on expanding Pinon Canyon beginning in 2008...more

Pure political theater. Robertson and Aguerre have it right.

Udall and Bennet should insist on the "no funds shall be spent" language in any appropriations bill. That will keep the Army honest while they build "trust" with the local community. Otherwise, the ranchers will have to file a FOIA request each year to make sure there no plans, operational or environmental studies, etc. concerning expansion.

If the Senators refuse to support such language they are siding with the Army over their constituents.