More articles on signing HB1317

Pueblo Chieftain June 2, 2009

From the Trinidad Chronicle today:

Ritter signs
bill to block
Army Expansion
By DAVID SANTISTEVAN JR.
The Chronicle-News
On Tuesday Gov. Bill Ritter signed,
sealed, and delivered on his promise,
signing into law House Bill 1317, “The
Landowner and School Protection
Act”, literally banning the Army from
buying or leasing any state land from
the Colorado State Land Board any
where around the current 247,000 acre
Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS)
in Southeastern Colorado.
This bi-partisan bill will also
require the attorney general to resist
any efforts by the U.S. Army to obtain
any more land for training on these
state lands. The state owns about 20
percent of land the Army is looking to
buy or lease.
Back in 2007 members on both sides
of the isle supported House Bill 1069,
which also is an effort to keep the
Army from expanding out at PCMS,
that bill keeps the Army from taking
any land around the PCMS through
eminent domain.
“I am very happy that Gov. Ritter
signed the bill. It shows great courage
on his part to sign this bill into law
and stand behind not only the people
of Southeast Colorado but everyone in
the state of Colorado, because this was
a bi-partisan effort with a lot of support
in the senate and the house that
benefits all of Colorado,” Mack
Louden said Tuesday afternoon.
Lon Robertson stated, “We are very
pleased that Gov. Ritter has signed this
legislation into law to help eliminate a
back door approach that could have
been used to expand Pinon Canyon.
We have held expansion off by staying
together as a community but the
struggle is far from over.”
A Federal ban is pending supported
by U.S. Representatives John Salazar
and Betsy Markey, both of whom are
working together to get permanent
legislation passed to totally ban any
further attempts to expand PCMS by
the Army.
“I am pleased that the governor
signed the bill into law and I
will continue to work to stop the
Army from buying or leasing
anymore land around the
PCMS,” Congressman John
Salazar said in a statement sent
to The Chronicle-News.
Ranchers and farmers have a
lawsuit in federal court accusing
the Army of not considering the
environmental impact to the
grasslands and prairie landscape.
A federal judge next week
is scheduled to hear both sides of
the argument in a Denver courtroom.
Ritter added, “This is a safety
net for all of the farmers and
ranchers in the area. This really
does not resolve the issue, just a
step in the process.”
Rep. Sal Pace one of co-sponsors
of the bill said, “I am
pleased with the signing of the
bill, this will now make it very
hard for the Army to expand
without any state lands. This is a
positive step and puts another
road block in the way of the
Army.”
Congresswomen Betsy
Markey told The Chronicle-
News, “I’m delighted that Gov.
Ritter signed the bill. It is an
important victory in the broader
battle for private property rights
in Colorado. I intend to pursue
legislation in Congress that will
permanently block the expansion
of Pinon Canyon, and
remove this threat once and for
all.”