Backers don’t get Salazar off fence

Sen. Ken Salazar got an earful from supporters of the Army’s proposed expansion of Fort Carson’s Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, but he left Colorado Springs on Wednesday still firmly on the fence.

After a two-hour meeting with city and county officials along with a number of Fort Carson boosters, Salazar said the Army still hasn’t adequately explained why it needs an additional 418,000 acres. And while Salazar said he wants the Army to study a proposal to expand the site, he also could move to block formal environmental studies necessary before land acquisition.

It’s part of a months-long balancing act by the freshman Democrat who says he wants to craft a compromise between the ranchers of southeast Colorado, some of whom have vowed not to compromise, and Army leaders who say cramped training areas in Colorado could endanger the lives of Fort Carson soldiers in Iraq.

“I want us to move forward in a thoughtful process,” said Salazar, who criticized those who said he should pick a side in the Piñon Canyon debate.

Because his brother, Rep. John Salazar, penned a Houseapproved measure that would block the Army from even studying expansion, Ken Salazar’s support is critical in the Senate. Without it, the expansion would have little chance.

Unlike earlier meetings on Piñon Canyon, which have turned into emotional rallies for expansion opponents, Salazar heard only the benefits of the Army proposal in the Colorado Springs City Council chambers.

“We owe it to our men and women in uniform to provide the best possible training facilities,” Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera told Salazar.

El Paso County Commissioner Wayne Williams, Rep. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, and former congressional candidate Bentley Rayburn also urged Salazar to let the Army move forward with studying the plan.

Backers of the expansion say the Army needs more land because more soldiers are moving to Fort Carson.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Ed Anderson told Salazar that having a bigger place to train is the only way soldiers can get up to speed for modern battlefields.

“A well-trained Army is a national security requirement,” Anderson said.

Other speakers told Salazar of the billions of dollars in benefits that the Army lavishes on Colorado.

Mike Kazmierski, who heads the Greater Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation, said the Army is responsible for 27,000 civilian jobs statewide.

After the meeting, Salazar said he wants to balance the interests of ranchers with those of the Army.

He said that could include getting the Army to reach lease agreements that would let ranchers stay on their property while still leasing space to the Army.

Salazar also wants the Army to explore offering grazing rights to ranchers on any property the government acquires.

He said he is not ready to support the Army’s plan to move ahead with land acquisition studies or his brother’s plan to block those studies.

“I’m not there yet.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com