Colo. governor blocks Army expansion on ranchland

The Army's plan to expand a southeast Colorado training site is facing another obstacle now that Gov. Bill Ritter has signed a measure barring the use of state land for the project that is opposed by ranchers. Ritter approved legislation Tuesday that prevents the state from selling or leasing land to the Army to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver site. About 20 percent of the land the Army wants for the site is state-owned. The Army first announced its plans more than three years ago, saying it needed to expand the 370-square-mile site to about 525 square miles to accommodate new weapons, tactics and soldiers. But neighboring ranchers united to fight the effort, picking up support from state lawmakers and members of Congress. They also filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Army of not carefully considering the environmental impact of the expansion on the arid, short-grass prairie landscape. Judge Richard Matsch is scheduled to hear arguments in that case in Denver on Wednesday. Ritter said the bill was not anti-military, as Colorado's two Republican congressmen suggested. He said it doesn't resolve the issue but will provide farmers and ranchers with a safety net while negotiations continue with the Army...AP