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Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition

Nature in Southeast Colorado

From the La Junta Tribune: "Romanoff well received in La Junta"

Full story at LaJuntaTribuneDemocrat.com
Posted Feb 22, 2010 @ 02:28 PM

La Junta, Colo. —

Andrew Romanoff has been one of Colorado’s most popular politicians since he rose to prominence as Speaker of the House and on a cold, blustery Saturday night in La Junta, he proved it once again, drawing more than 50 people from both sides of the political aisle to the Koshare Kiva to hear him speak about his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

Romanoff faces a major challenge trying to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, the former Denver Public Schools superintendent. Bennet was appointed last year by Gov. Bill Ritter to replace former Sen. Ken Salazar, who was tapped by President Barack Obama as U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

Then, last week, Obama appeared in Colorado to campaign for Bennet, a move that left many Democrats crying foul over the fact that Obama “was throwing his weight around” even before Romanoff and Bennet could square off in an Aug. 10 primary election. Both candidates will face the challenge of earning a place on the ballot when Democrats meet for their state assembly this summer. Each needs to earn at least 30 percent of delegate votes to qualify for a place on the primary ballot.

Romanoff acknowledged he’s a “burr under the state’s saddle” currently, challenging an incumbent in a state that turned blue (indicating Democratic Party dominance) during the last General Election. But with a solid record of service at the Statehouse, in-depth knowledge of the state and solid name recognition, he believes
he is ready for the challenge of taking on Bennet, then the status quo in Washington, D.C.

About Congress he said adamantly that it is “so broken and so dysfunctional that something has to be done” to straighten it out. He also said he believes people in Colorado think this is a time of “so much peril and discord” they’ve lost their trust, even as they’ve lost their homes, jobs and even their lives” fighting in wars halfway around the globe.

Grazing necessary for sustainable ecosystems...

Here are the facts:

Shortgrass prairie makes up approximately one third of Colorado, and only about 40 percent of this prairie remains. Much of what's left is degraded because of development, highways, and water projects. And in this instance the biggest threat in this region is from the Army.

Grazing by large ruminants is a keystone process of the grassland ecosystem. A keystone process is one that has significant impact on the entire ecosystem. Grazing begins with the plant-grazer interaction but the effects of grazing are critical to species at all levels of the system.

'Heartening'

Today's story in the Pueblo Chieftain about Andrew Romanoff's position on a permanent ban against expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site is, indeed 'heartening'......

Feb 15th Editorial - Pueblo Chieftain

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Are you part of your Party's Caucus process? It's started....

You could help effect a platform change/endorsement for your party if enough of us present language for a resolution such as:

"The ______________ Party opposes the U.S. Army's attempted land grab of additional lands surrounding the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in Southeastern Colorado and supports the enactment of a permanent and binding congressional ban on expansion of the Site"

 

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Opposition Groups Honored by LaJunta Chamber

From the LaJunta Tribune

Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition and Not 1 More Acre! received the award together, with Lon Robertson and Steve Wooten accepting for PCEOC and Jim Herrell acccepting the award on behalf of Not 1 More Acre!

Newspaper publisher Candi Hill, who presented the award with Adela Licano and Chamber President Chandra Ochoa, said the two groups "have made significant contributions to protecting Southeastern Colorado's lifestyle and heritage. Through their efforts, ranchland in Pinon Canyon has been protected against expansion by the U.S. Army. Both organizations understand and appreciate the value of agriculture to this community. They are committed to protecting a way of life that impacts every person here. There will be future battles to protect our heritage and we hope both organizations know that they have the support of the communities they are helping to protect."

Hill said the groups should be congratulated "for being the voice of not only the agricultural community but for all people of Southeastern Colorado." Robertson said four years ago when PCEOC was started, people warned him the group couldn't win against the Army in its haste to expand it 238,000-acre training site southwest of La Junta.

"As a community we are here because we don't give up," Robertson said.

Herrell said even though the groups have succeeded in getting a congressional funding ban on expansion of Pinon Canyon and a moratorium on leasing or selling state land to the military, "it's like hitting a home run in the fifth inning. It's nice but there's still a lot of work left to do."

Herrell said the Army's plans to expand the site by 418,000 acres still stand. Congress needs to take the plans off the table, he said.  Herrell called the people of Southeast Colorado "among the most patriotic you will find in America," adding that the example set by the two groups in opposing expansion of Pinon Canyon means parents here "can still look their children in the eyes and tell them to stand up for what they believe in."

The two groups received a standing ovation from the crowd before they left the banquet stage.


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A reprint from Doug's Pilgrimage Blog.......

The two major political parties are subverting the democratic process in our state. They are, perhaps unwittingly pushing people like me toward the "Independent" column. First it was the Republican elite who got together behind closed doors to anoint Scott McInnis as their candidate for governor, long before the primary process had a chance to work. They even drafted a platform, a document which has traditionally been part of the party caucus process.

Now it's the Democrats who are subverting the primary process. President Obama is on his way to Denver to give his blessing to, and raise mega-bucks for Senate candidate, Michael Bennet. Such an endorsement would be fine if the primary process had been allowed to play itself out and Bennet had emerged as the party's choice. But that's not the case. There's another strong, viable Democratic candidate in the race; former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, Andrew Romanoff.

Read the rest of Doug's blog here: http://purgatorypilgrim.blogspot.com/

Romanoff opposes Pinon Canyon - Pueblo Chieftain

Friday, February 05, 2010

Romanoff opposes Pinon Canyon expansion Calls for ‘total ban’ on the enlargement debate.

Andrew Romanoff

Calls for ‘total ban’ on the enlargement debate.

By PETER ROPER
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

February 05, 2010 12:06 am

 Andrew Romanoff says the four-year fight between the Army and Southern Colorado ranchers over the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site has gone on too long and — if elected to the U.S. Senate — he would permanently block any future expansion of the 238,000-acre training area near Trinidad.

   "We need a total ban on (the Army) expanding Pinon Canyon," the former Democratic speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives said in an interview Thursday. "The ranchers down there deserve to have this fight come to an end once and for all."

Romanoff opposes Pinon Canyon expansion; Calls for a total ban on the Pinon Canyon debate - Topix

Romanoff opposes Pinon Canyon expansion; Calls for a total ban on the maneuver site enlargement debate - Topix

Poll update from Rasmussen on Colo Senate race: Bennet, Romanoff trail Norton

News forwarded from


Poll: Bennet, Romanoff trail Norton

By: Jessica Taylor
February 5, 2010 10:21 AM EST

Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is trailing in his reelection bid by double digits, according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey that shows him losing by 14 percentage points to Republican Jane Norton.

Norton, the state's former lieutenant governor, is up over Bennet by a margin of 51 percent to 37 percent, with 7 percent undecided. Norton's edge has grown slightly since last month, when she held a 12-point lead.

The poll also shows Bennet losing to two other Republican contenders, former state Sen. Tom Wiens and Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck.

Former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who's challenging Bennet in the Democratic primary, runs closer to Norton in the poll, losing by only 7 points.

Bennet's reelection hopes will get a boost later this month, when President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Denver to raise money for him. Obama plans to speak at two fundraisers on Feb. 17.

We need more common sense......

From our Facebook discussion page: "It is always good to see politicians standing up on principle instead of towing party lines. And as you suggest they should all be recognized and supported when they stand for principle. We need more common sense on these issues.  All Colorado representatives in my opinion from both sides of the isle should be standing for our fellow citizens." Rich Hand

Western Slope water and Southeastern/Eastern Plains - all on McInnis' chopping block?

More terrifying threats from McInnis as reflected in the Montrose Daily Press:


"McInnis vows his first trip after he’s elected governor will be to the Pentagon to tell its leadership that Colorado is back in play and wants to expand on its established military environment, which includes a number of installations besides the obvious ones most know in Colorado Springs."

Besides condemning all of us in the southeast, and the thousands of jobs we support, McInnis will undoubtedly also be going after Western Slope water and agriculture as well.  Urban areas that McInnis wants to see grow on the Front Range are pushing just that already.


From the Pueblo Chieftain article 'Gunnison: Should state study drying up cities?':
Front range group "has urged the state to look at drying up Western Slope agriculture as a strategy [for water supply] along with Eastern Plains reduction in farmland"
and
"Gunnison turned that around, saying the state is hardly looking at the real problem:  Increased urban demand" .

Along with the attitude that the Southeast corner of the state is apparently completely unimportant, if McInnis is elected we now know we also run the risk of losing all of our state's agriculture.  East and West.

Got Food?

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Colorado Springs HAS NOT lost military jobs like some would want you to believe

Claims made by gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis during a campaign event in Windsor on January 27^th are more than just misleading.  McInnis reportedly told attendees in Windsor that military basing decisions during the past year have cost thousands of jobs in Colorado, and that a bi-partisan bill blocking the sale of state-owned lands to the Army is to blame. [http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100128007 ]

McInnis was referring to Department of Defense, Army, and Air Force decisions during the past year, which have affected Colorado Springs and other military locations nationwide.  For example, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates canceled the planned creation of three additional brigades, which would have been part of the Future Combat Systems. [ http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0609/061009cdam2.htm ]. 

One of those brigades had supposedly been slated for Fort Carson yet last April the Army decided to relocate Division West headquarters to Fort Hood in Texas, which resulted in the relocation of about 300 hundred people, [http://www.army.mil/-newsreleases/2009/04/03/19239-force-structure-actions-at-fort-hood-and-other-installations/ ] and in May the Air Force decided to locate its Cyber Command in San Antonio, Texas, rather than in Colorado Springs. [http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2009/05/11/daily38.html ]

McInnis tried to imply that those decisions were prompted by a bill enacted last summer with broad bi-partisan support but his implications don’t hold water.   He was referring to HB1317, which blocks the state from selling land to the Army for the expansion of Pinon Canyon.  But McInnis is wrong on two important points:

1. HB 1317 was signed into law in June, after the basing and troop-strength decisions had been made, so it is unlikely that it had any influence upon those decisions. And
2. the basing decisions did not cause a loss of jobs in Colorado. In fact, the military population has grown in the state. For example, during the past four years Fort Carson has experienced its largest population growth since it was founded in 1942  [http://search.carson.army.mil/pao-news/press-releases/]

Published reports in fact indicate that Fort Carson has actually grown by several thousand troops, and that the Army has received millions of dollars to fund new construction.  For instance, the base added 6,500 soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division headquarters and its 3,800-soldier 1st Brigade Combat Team [http://www.fortcarsonblog.com/2009/04/30/fort-carson-will-gain-a-division-headquarters-unit-this-summer-and-it-will-lose-one-too-post-officials-announced-friday/] 

According to Fred Crowley, senior economist at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, these additional troops created about 5,000 new jobs in Colorado Springs. [http://csbj.com/2009/07/02/military-spending-vital-to-springs-economy/]

So, McInnis’ claims are completely wrong and in fact Colorado has become ever more dependent upon the military and federal dollars.  However, the majority of true conservative Republicans as well as the majority of Democrats and Independents all over the country understand that throwing tax payer dollars at local economies does not resolve the economic downturn.  Instead it robs dollars from people and businesses that create stable productive private sector jobs. 

McInnis continues to spout non-truths and misconceptions, and if allowed he would nationalize land and steal jobs from the southeast Colorado economy.  His "job math" does not include the jobs he would destroy in southeast Colorado by expanding Pinon Canyon and tying those federal subsidized dollars to the military does not make them effective or necessary.  Our military should not be an economic tool for politicians and southeast Colorado shouldn’t be allowed to be sacrificed let alone because of some make believe scheme by Mr. McInnis.