Pinon Canyon - Group slams Army

Southern Colorado ranchers and critics of the proposed expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site said Monday that the Army is now trying to take over Southeastern Colorado through the "back door." The Army released a draft environmental assessment Jan. 18 that states there would be no significant impact on the maneuver site from adding a new 113-helicopter Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Carson and conducting training missions at Pinon Canyon northeast of town. But members of Not 1 More Acre! are disputing the Army's plan. Fort Carson has long been preparing for the new aviation brigade and was required to do an environmental impact study on the potential damage to the 238,000-acre maneuver site. "We all agree that this is a terrible abuse of public disclosure law. They are actually saying this configuration will have no significant impact at Pinon Canyon?" said Jean Aguerre, president of Not 1 More Acre! prior to the meeting. Aguerre called the assessment half-baked and said that more traffic at Pinon Canyon would cause detrimental, mind-blowing damage to the grasslands. During the meeting, Las Animas County Commissioner Gary Hill read a letter to Army officials asking them to conduct a full environmental impact study, which would be more in-depth. "An EA (environmental assessment) is just a shortcut and doesn't address everything, in our opinion," Hill said. Lon Robertson, of the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition, agreed that the study is not complete. "Once again it's the nose of the cantaloupe. The military is not doing anything to win support or show that they can be trusted," Robertson said. Robertson said, some of the facts in the new study simply were not true...more