Expanded Army training site holds
a false promise of economic boon

Published: Sunday July 22, 2007  Pueblo Chieftain

Many of these ranchers dealt with the Army when the site was created. In the 1980s, the Army promised economic benefits for the towns surrounding the site because troops would do business in the area. However, the reality today is troops travel between Ft. Carson and Pinon Canyon in tight convoys and don't stop at local businesses.

This was just one of several broken promises made by the Army.

The Army also promised live fire would never be used in the area. Another promise broken.

Now, the Army is suggesting the expansion of Pinon Canyon would bring an economic boon to Pueblo. Pueblo residents should be skeptical.

If the Army seizes this land, 414,000 acres of ranchland would be taken out of production. This would reduce the amount of money coming to Pueblo by several million dollars each year, and it's unrealistic to believe the losses would be made up by residents of Colorado Springs, as the Army claims.

If the site is expanded by the astonishing 414,000 acres, less money would be spent by these ranchers and their families in Pueblo. The ripple effect will impact other businesses that depend on the money from ranching.

The economic activity in the area targeted for expansion is vibrant:

10,200 head of cattle

Up to $60 million a year of cattle sales generated from ranches

$750,000 a year of hay sales

$2 million spent in the regional economy for farm and ranch expenses

An estimated $113 million to $313 million a year would be lost from the regional economy using a modest multiplier effect of each dollar circulating through the economy five times. This would result in a staggering $11 billion to $3.1 billion loss from the regional economy every decade.

Sources of those estimates include the Las Animas office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Las Animas Extension Agent, Colorado Cattlemen's Association, La Junta Winter Livestock Auction and the Southern Colorado Economic Development District.

Despite the Army's best claims, the additional troops assigned to Fort Carson are not going to travel to Pueblo to bank, buy clothes or get home loans. Our neighbors in Walsenburg, Trinidad, Thatcher, Model, Delhi and Tyrone and families all across Southeastern Colorado, however, are the ones who currently conduct their business in Pueblo.

It's also unwise to assume, based on history, that the additional troops will move to the Pueblo community as the Army now claims. The same promise was made 20 years ago about troops moving to Trinidad, but it just didn't happen.

If policymakers are going to measure the validity of expanding Pinon Canyon by its economic relevance, it's clear we would be picking winners and losers. Pueblo would join the many small Colorado communities on the list of losers. Local residents should recognize the follies of this expansion and oppose it.

Pueblo Chamber of Commerce leaders would know better than anyone how vital the regional southeastern economy is to their city. Yet, a vocal minority of the chamber claims Fort Carson will lose soldiers in future Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) reports if this expansion isn't approved. This is absolutely contrary to what the military stated in its last BRAC report of 2005, when it awarded Fort Carson additional troops stating that it had plenty of training facilities without the inclusion of Pinon Canyon.

As House members, we worked together to pass an amendment supporting private property owners and the local economies. Our measure would prevent the Army from rushing forward with its planned expansion.

We are still waiting to see what will happen in the Senate with our legislation and we've been petitioning U.S. Senators Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar to join us in support of ranchers in Southeastern Colorado.

In the meantime, as the public debates the merits of the Pinon Canyon expansion, we want to raise a healthy skepticism about Army officials' claims of an economic boon. History has shown their previous claims haven't held true and it's clear their claims today are just more of the same - empty promises.

From dinosaurs to prehistoric settlements to settlements of the Old West, these canyon lands have seen them all, but if the Army gets its way, no one will ever see them again.

Good Neighbor Committee
P.O. Box 155 - La Salle, CO  80645
info@goodneighborlaw.com

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