The Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS), a U.S. Army Training Area, encompasses 235,896 acres in southeastern Colorado. Using eminent domain, the military acquired PCMS in the 1980s to provide the Army with a place to conduct mechanized brigade training exercises. As the second largest Department of Defense training site in the nation (to California's Fort Irwin), PCMS hosts at least two major military exercises a year, in which roughly 5,000 troops, 300 heavy tracked vehicles and 400 wheeled vehicles take to the expansive wilderness in month-long, intensive war maneuver exercises. The training area borders miles of the Purgatoire River and includes significant portions of at least six of its tributaries. PCMS supports a diverse ecosystem with large numbers of big and small game, fisheries, non-game wildlife, forest, rangeland and mineral resources. PCMS is also known to contain significant archeological and paleontological resources, including giant fossilized dinosaur tracks in an area known as Picket Wire.

On October 13, 2006, the Army released the draft "Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site Transformation Environmental Impact Statement" for public comment. The draft EIS was the first step in publicly evaluating the need for withdrawal of an additional 132,500 acres of land from the public domain. The draft EIS seeks authorization for an unspecified increase in use, including joint service operations and multi-national training, and construction of new support facilities costing $26 million, including a live hand grenade range, an ammunition holding area, and a protective equipment testing facility.

There is no doubt that increased numbers of troops and vehicles, heavier equipment and more frequent training will harm significant natural and historic resources. Mechanized training destroys trees, compacts soil and increases erosion. Live fire exercises will disperse both exploded and unexploded munitions throughout the property, and low-flying fighter jets employed during proposed joint operations with the Air Force will severely impact pronghorn populations. Expansion of the PCMS will also have devastating economic impacts on surrounding rural communities, ultimately eliminating working family ranches that have been owned for generations and many small towns, including Bloom, Delphi, Hoehne, Kim, Model, Tyrone, Thatcher, Timpas, Two Buttes and Thatcher.

Rock the Earth and a coalition of ranchers, environmental groups and peace activists, are defending this important ecosystem and opposing the expansion, which lacks the requisite, rigorous environmental review, required under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA").

"After consulting with a number of partners and citizen groups, we feel that the proposed expansion of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site lacks the necessary environmental evaluation to go forward," stated Rock the Earth Executive Director Marc Ross. "We're fighting to make sure that the military complies with the letter of the law by reviewing other reasonable alternatives to expansion. The Army must take all measures necessary to protect the important environmental, archeological and paleontological resources found in this area. Federal environmental protections cannot be circumvented under the false cloak of 'National Security.'"

Attorney and Rock the Earth Volunteer Staff Member Steve Harris is representing more than 160 individuals and organizations in the case. Harris observed, "The United States currently spends more than $500 billion per year on national defense, and yet we are struggling to provide our troops with equipment and health care. What is the compelling reason that justifies using our scarce taxpayer dollars to acquire hundreds of thousands of additional acres for military exercises? Why aren't the millions of acres already owned by the Department of Defense sufficient to meet current needs? These questions weren't asked, much less answered, in the draft EIS."

In February, 2007, RtE submitted a detailed comment letter to the United States Army in response to the DEIS, describing the fundamental flaws in the DEIS and registering RtE's opposition to the PCMS expansion. The letter raised the following concerns:

• The Army is using the draft EIS to justify a decision that has already been made; NEPA requires a thorough evaluation of impacts and alternatives prior to making decisions;
• The Army improperly limited its consideration of alternatives to the proposed expansion by narrowly defining the purpose and need;
• The draft EIS does not adequately establish the environmental baseline for pre-project conditions, which is necessary to properly understand and evaluate project impacts;
• The draft EIS does not identify or adequately analyze proposed mitigation of impacts from the project;
• The draft EIS does not adequately characterize or analyze the potential impacts of the project on the environment, including:
  • Air Quality
  • Water Resources
  • Endangered Species
  • Impacts to Vegetation
  • Potential for Soil Contamination
  • Impacts from Hazardous Materials
  • Noise

To learn more about this project, visit the project page on our website.

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