Bennet says Piñon Canyon funding is still frozen

PUEBLO • U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said he’s been assured by colleagues in the Senate that a funding ban on the Army’s proposed expansion of a disputed training site in southeast Colorado will remain in effect.

Bennet said the ban would continue through 2010, when the military construction appropriations bill is approved. The funding ban was first authored in 2007.

The Army has proposed expanding its 238,000-acre Piñon Canyon training site by 100,000 acres to accommodate an increase of Fort Carson soldiers.

Local farmers and ranchers have opposed the expansion, saying it would take agricultural land out of production and hurt the area’s economy.