Army calls for retreat on Piñon expansion

The Army has given up attempts to acquire land for expanding the Piñon Canyon training site in the next year, shifting the money that had been allocated for the purpose to other uses, according to congressional and Army sources. Originally, Army budget makers had planned to allocate $17 million in fiscal 2010 for land acquisition associated with Piñon Canyon, a line item consistent with public statements made by Army officials as recently as this month that the controversial expansion is still a priority. But faced with a push-back from Congress and a so-far unsuccessful strategy focused on leasing land, that money was re allocated to military construction at Fort Polk, La., in the budget's final version, those sources said. The Army still has wiggle room in the way it can spend funds for military construction, but experts say the move is a clear signal that the Army is backing off any effort to buy land to expand the facility, at least in the near term...Denver Post