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Army: Pinon Canyon big enough but barely

DENVER — The Army says its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeast Colorado is just big enough to accommodate the addition of about 6,800 soldiers at Fort Carson but that the quality and cost of training might suffer without an expansion.

The assertion is in a draft environmental impact statement released Friday on the proposed troop increase at Fort Carson, outside Colorado Springs.

Fort Carson soldiers train at Pinon Canyon, about 100 miles to the southeast. The Army had proposed expanding the Pinon Canyon site from 370 square miles to more than 1,000 square miles but recently scaled that back to about 525 square miles.

The military says it needs more space for new weapons and tactics. Commanders have say they need room for the planned expansion at Fort Carson. But Friday’s statement says Pinon Canyon as it stands can handle the additional troops.

Area ranchers oppose the expansion. They suspect they’ll be forced to sell their property and that the economy will suffer with the loss of agricultural land. They also say the Army hasn’t demonstrated that it really needs more land.

The Army says it wants to acquire property only from willing sellers.

The 900-page draft impact statement deals primarily with the Army’s plans for Fort Carson, which include adding an infantry brigade with about 3,500 soldiers, an aviation brigade with about 2,900 soldiers and support units with about 400 soldiers, all by the end of 2012.

If all units are added, Fort Carson would have 32,000 soldiers.

“The Army’s position is that the present facilities at Fort Carson and (the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site) marginally provide sufficient land to train assigned soldiers and units adequately (including the additional 3,500 soldiers),” the statement says.

But it warns that without more land, the Army will have to change procedures, possibly incurring more costs, increasing training’s impact on the environment, leaving soldiers less time to spend with their families and giving units “sub-optimal training.”

The Army will accept comments and suggestions on the statement until Nov. 24. It has scheduled public meetings in Trinidad on Oct. 27, La Junta on Oct. 28 and Colorado Springs on Oct. 29.