Army Blitzes SE Colorado

We haven't asked in a while but this week WE NEED YOU!

If you could possibly sacrifice a few hours this week to be at some or all of these meetings it will speak volumes to our elected officials.

PLEASE ALSO CALL YOUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, NEIGHBORS - ASK THEM TO DO THE SAME.......... ANY HELP YOU CAN PROVIDE BY BEING THERE IS VITAL TO OUR BEING HEARD.

The Army seems to be blitzing us this next week, in an effort to

1. gain documentable public/political support they can use against us and

2. sidestep laws and Federal Court orders

Your presence is needed at multiple meetings:

   

First, Tuesday night, the 15^th of February.  The Trinidad City Council will be meeting at 7pm in Trinidad City Hall.  

Purpose: Discussion and action relative to enacting a resolution in place of the Army requested 'Covenant'.  We are told the Army will have a presence there as well and we need to show support of the City Council for standing their ground by our being there.

Second, Wednesday night, the 16^th of February in La Junta, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Student Center at Otero Jr College.  The Army will be holding public comment meetings on the Environmental Assessment they are issuing - designed to replace/avoid the court vacated Environmental Impact Statement.  We need as many people as possible to attend and show our elected officials how decidedly opposed we are on expanding PCMS.

Third, Thursday night, the 17^th of February in Trinidad, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Sullivan Center at Trinidad State Jr College.  The Army will be holding public comment meetings on the Environmental Assessment they are issuing - designed to replace/avoid the court vacated Environmental Impact Statement.  We need as many people as possible to attend and show our elected officials how decidedly opposed we are of expanding PCMS.

Be sure to start calling your representatives and letting them know 'enough is enough'.  Stop this expansion nonsense now!

Need legislator contact information?  Goto the PCEOC website legislator page.

Critically important to start letter writing campaign to Congressman Scott Tipton

It's time once again to get out the pens and paper and send letters, emails, faxes, call and get your friends to do the same, as well as your friends' friends. 

Representative Scott Tipton may not believe that so many are against expansion - he will be meeting soon with the Army commanders and we need to let him know we trust he will protect us and keep the ban in place. The more letters, calls and emails he gets the better obviously!

Please write, call his offices, send a fax, leave a message that you are against expansion and ask Congressman Tipton to keep the spending ban in place.

His contact information is:

Pueblo Office
503 N. Main Street, Suite 658
Pueblo, CO 81003
...Phone: 719.542.1073
Fax: 719.542.1127

Washington, DC
Phone: 202.225.4761
Fax: 202.226.9669

Alamosa Office
609 Main St., #105 Box 11
Alamosa, CO 81101
Phone: 719.587.5105
Fax: 719.587.5137

Grand Junction Office
225 North 5th St., Suite 702
Grand Junction, CO 81501
Phone: 970.241.2499
Fax: 970.241.3053

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Pueblo Chieftain understands completely what must happen.....

PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN EDITORIAL
Posted: Friday, January 28, 2011 12:00 am

HALT NOW  
Halt — now    4 comments 
 

THE ACTING senior commander at Fort Carson says there are no current plans and no money to expand Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site — but only for the next few years.
   Brig. Gen. James Doty made the statement during a meeting with The Chieftain’s editorial board this week. And, at the moment, the money for expansion doesn’t appear to be in the Pentagon’s budget.

   On Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Congress, by holding the Pentagon to last year’s spending level, would create a $23 billion gap in his department’s needs. In other words, there would be no money for things such as land acquisition.
   In light of that, the Pentagon should order Fort Carson not to spend any money on land acquisition, and it should do so now. As it is, the fort has been granted Defense Department authority in the form of a waiver to pursue expansion. That waiver must be countermanded now.
   However, the Army is prohibited from spending money on acquisition by virtue of an amendment to the Pentagon’s spending authorization legislation. That prohibition first was sponsored by Reps. Marilyn Musgrave and John Salazar and subsequently renewed by the same amendment sponsored by Reps. Salazar and Betsy Markey.
   Now the area is represented by Reps. Scott Tipton and Cory Gardner, whom we earnestly urge to continue the ban in the new budget cycle. The Army has never made a persuasive case that it needs more area at Pinon Canyon. Even though it now appears a change in Army training doctrine will make the alleged need temporarily moot, we must never stop fighting any expansion plan.
   Under that new doctrine, only relatively small units would train at any given time, meaning any need for even more than the 238,000 acres at Pinon Canyon has disappeared. But vigilance is needed, because new officers in charge of Pentagon planning could change doctrine again, and Pinon Canyon could be in the sights of a new regime.
   Nonetheless, the Pentagon should rescind the waiver so that it’s clear that Fort Carson has no authority whatsoever to purchase land around the Pinon Canyon site. Once a bureaucracy — even the Army’s — gets a project under way, that effort gains a life of its own unless it is stopped dead in its tracks.
   What’s deeply troubling is that the uncertainty faced by neighboring ranchers makes it difficult for them to make rational decisions about financing improvements on their spreads. And the cattle industry is huge in Southeastern Colorado.
   La Junta cattle sales are second in volume only to those in Oklahoma City. Ranching and farming provide the lifeblood of the Lower Arkansas Valley’s economy and directly benefits Pueblo’s economy. Just as the valley needs to protect its water for farming, it needs to protect the ranching interests, some of which go back three or four generations.
   The Army has no need to expand the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site. It should halt any and all efforts toward that end — now.
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Commissioners ask for more oversight and truth in care of Historic Sites at PCMS

Saving history

The Pueblo County commissioners have asked a federal agency to intervene and oppose the Army’s training operations at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

The request came in a letter to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. The council provides the means for citizens to help safeguard historic sites by filing request for agency involvement. The agency can require federal departments to report how they are protecting historic artifacts under their supervision.

While Fort Carson long has maintained it has worked to protect sensitive sites at the training area, officials there acknowledged that some damage occurred during a brigade training session there last summer. The training area has a number of sites relating to Indian activities and encampments.

The county commissioners made their request after hearing a presentation from Not 1 More Acre!, a coalition of ranchers and other opponents of the Army’s attempt to expand the training area. The commissioners realize that the economic health of the Arkansas Valley’s farming and ranching industry is vital for Pueblo’s own economic vitality.

All who care about this region’s rich cultural history should thank the commissioners for their involvement

The Pueblo Chieftain Editorial 12/26/2010

PCEOC Resolution supporting our troops

A resolution expressing the Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition's, (PCEOC) support for the U.S. troops and their families.

WHEREAS, men and women in the military are making huge sacrifices and enduring

            extreme hardships both during military service and when they return to civilian

            life after their service; and

WHEREAS, the physical, psychological and spiritual well-being of current service

            members and veterans should be one of our highest national priorities; and

WHEREAS, 44% of those serving in the military are from rural America, while only 
            22% of the American population lives in rural America; and

WHEREAS, the men and women serving in the military should never be used for

            public relations purposes to promote private economic interests or to advance

            the real estate acquisition agendas of the Department of Defense;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE PINON CANYON EXPANSION OPPOSITION COALITION:

1.         Supports the U.S. troops currently serving, as well as those that have previously

            served, and their families, irrespective of Department of Defense plans for the

            expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

2.         Welcomes military personnel and their families into our Southeastern Colorado

            Communities, irrespective of any Army promises of financial rewards or benefits

            which might accrue to our region.

3.         Will work to advance the physical, psychological and spiritual well-being of U.S.

            troops and veterans irrespective of Administration or Department of Defense

            policies.

ADOPTED by the Board of Directors, Pinon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition this 27^th day of December, 2010.

Election still results in support seen for southeast Colorado

Even while we are losing a committed fighter of no expansion and supporter of rural values in John Salazar we have maintained other elected positions, and have even gained others as we fight for our rights.

We have kept many that have fought valiantly and will continue to do so and gained some in other areas ...... and will continue to get support as newly elected officials become more aware of the real dangers and loss to this Country if any expansion is allowed.

Newly elected Las Animas County Commissioner Mack Louden will continue the fight...

State Rep Wes McKinley will continue the fight...

State Rep Sal Pace will continue the fight...

Newly elected State Senator Kevin Grantham has vowed to continue the fight....

Newly elected Governor elect Hickenlooper is standing with us......(his statement below)
Protecting Colorado's Ranchers: A Position on Pinon Canyon: As most ranchers and livestock operators in Colorado know, there is a great deal of concern about the Army's plans to expand the boundaries of Fort Carson's training facilities at Pinon Canyon in southern Colorado. It is not enough to oppose the use of eminent domain (condemnation) at Pinon Canyon. In an already fragile economy, it is not fair to add more pressure to landowners in the area. That is why we support the state legislative ban on the lease or transfer of state lands for expansion, why we support the Congressional moratorium on expansion activities and why we are opposed to the additional loss of productive land in agriculture and livestock production that would follow from Army expansion. It is important for the communities most impacted by the Army's planned expansion in Southern Colorado to have the ultimate say in whether they would agree to any expansion proposal. It has been clear to us that so far, communities in Southern Colorado are adamantly opposed to the loss of this land (even through leasing) and we believe Colorado's next Governor must stand with them.