End Piñon Canyon expansion plans

The United States Army is not known for accepting defeat, but there is a time and place for everything. And it is past time for the Army to give up its plan to grab thousands of acres of Colorado. The idea was to expand the Army's Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site southeast of Pueblo to accommodate large-unit maneuvers with exercises involving hundreds of tracked vehicles. Conceived at the height of the Cold War, the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site already covers more than 200,000 acres, much of it acquired through eminent domain. The Army's plan was to increase that by more than 400,000 additional acres. (Although opponents claim to have leaked documents saying the real goal is in the millions of acres.)It now seems increasingly certain that is not going to happen. On June 2, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law House Bill 1317. It changed a section of the Colorado Revised Statutes to specifically deny permission for the federal government to acquire any land for Piñon Canyon. Among the bill's sponsors was state Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus. Then Tuesday, U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa - whose district includes Durango and Pueblo - announced that an appropriations funding ban that forbids any money being spent on the Piñon Canyon expansion will continue for another year. Some have expressed concern that without the new territory the Army might close Colorado Springs' Fort Carson and leave the state. But the Piñon Canyon site is already one of the military's largest training areas. Where would the Army go? A better question might be to ask if such a facility is really needed given the nature of the enemies facing the United States. Avoiding battle with superior forces is precisely what asymmetrical warfare is all about. And with the United States' advantage in air power and technology, it is likely that U.S. troops will continue to face the kind of tactics they see in Iraq and Afghanistan - not tank battles. There are also numerous environmental objections, as well as complaints from historians and archeologist about ancient artifacts that would be put at risk. But the best reason to drop the Piñon Canyon plan is simple fairness. Absent an obvious and overarching national security need - something not in evidence - the farmers, ranchers and residents of Southeast Colorado simply do not deserve to have their land taken from them. The Army should acknowledge that and move on. DurangoHeraldNews