Continuing to Rock the Defense Department on Pinon Canyon
 The Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) is located in southeastern Colorado in a region that contains forested mesas, grasslands, working ranches and riparian habitats. This fragile ecosystem continues to be threatened by the U.S. Army’s irrational hunger for more land to be used for mechanized and live fire weapons training. The Army originally acquired Piñon Canyon in the early 1980s to create a maneuver and training site for the Fort Carson military base in Colorado Springs. Claiming that they need more land for training purposes, the Army is currently attempting to expand the existing 238,000-acre base by an additional 418,577 acres, primarily through acquisition of private ranching land around Piñon Canyon. The expanded PCMS would cover approximately 1,000 square miles.
The expansion of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site will have catastrophic effects on the local ecology. The lands including and surrounding the PCMS represent the largest continuous block of undisturbed, native grasslands remaining on the western High Plains. Grasslands are one of the most imperiled ecosystems in the world; in the last 125 to 150 years, most of America’s native grasslands have been destroyed. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, native grasslands in the United States declined by 24 million acres between 1982 and 2002.
The PCMS is home to many imperiled wildlife species, including the bald eagle, burrowing owl, mountain plover, ferruginous hawk and swift fox, each designated as a “Species of Concern” by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. These species are dependent on the black-tailed prairie dog, a keystone species of the shortgrass prairie ecosystem and another Colorado-designated Species of Concern. Other Species of Concern known to occur on the PCMS include the flathead chub, plains leopard frog, triploid checkered whiptail, Texas blind snake, Texas horned lizard, yellow-billed cuckoo, American peregrine falcon, long-billed curlew, massasauga, greater sandhill crane, Townsend’s big-eared bat and Botta’s pocket gopher. Habitat for the Mexican spotted owl, a federally-listed threatened species, exists at the PCMS and throughout the region. The endangered black-footed ferret was undoubtedly present in the area historically. This listing of imperiled species does not even take into account species that have not yet been identified or documented taxonomically. This area also contains world-class archaeological and paleontological sites, including the largest dinosaur footprints in North America.
The National Park Service compiles and maintains a Nationwide Rivers Inventory (“NRI”), a register of river segments that potentially qualify as national wild, scenic or recreational river areas. The NRI identifies the Purgatoire River from Trinchera Creek to its confluence with the Arkansas River (a total of 117 miles) as possessing suitable characteristics for wild and scenic protection, including deep and scenic red canyons, beautiful sandstone formations and exposed geologic processes, excellent fish and wildlife habitat, dinosaur tracks and bones, petroglyphs, and Indian paintings, dwellings, camps and artifacts.
If the Army succeeds in tripling the size of PCMS, the increased numbers of troops and vehicles, heavier equipment and more frequent training will harm Piñon Canyon’s natural and cultural treasures. Military documents prove that training operations in Piñon Canyon have destroyed thousands of trees and killed large numbers of wildlife. Even more harmful damage can be expected if the Army is allowed to expand and conduct more frequent training maneuvers. Live fire exercises will also put the region at increased risk of wildfire. As of this writing, the uncontained Bridger Fire that started on June 11, 2008 has destroyed more than 42,000 acres of land in the Piñon Canyon region and has spread to nearby private and public lands, including the Comanche National Grasslands. Tanks and other large vehicles will disturb soil layers and release tons of stored carbon, a greenhouse gas responsible for global climate change. Surface disturbances also negatively impact underground aquifers and streams.
An unlikely coalition of local residents, generational ranchers, environmental groups, peace activists, fiscal conservatives, property rights activists and research scientists has vigorously opposed the tripling of the size of the PCMS. They claim that the Army does not need the proposed additional 418,577 acres of training facilities because the current PCMS is underutilized. Expansion opponents point out that the Army has only used the PCMS on average once per year for training exercises since 1985. They also argue that it is unjustifiable to rob ranchers and residents of their land to conduct rural training exercises in an era of urban warfare.
Activists who oppose the Army’s land grab founded a group called Not 1 More Acre! to fight the Army’s plans to expand PCMS. In February 2007, they sued the Army to obtain classified documents that prove the Army is planning on expanding PCMS. Not 1 More Acre! was successful in forcing the Army to release all the requested documents. More recently, in April 2008, Not 1 More Acre! sued the Army for violating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it prepared its final environmental impact statement (EIS) authorizing the construction of support facilities at the PCMS that will be used to justify the expansion. The Army received approximately 5,000 individual comments from the public, nearly all of which express opposition to expansion of the PCMS. The lawsuit alleges that the Army violated federal law by refusing to disclose or analyze potential environmental impacts related to the proposed expansion and failing to consider alternatives to the project as required by NEPA. Rock the Earth submitted comments on the EIS and has supported the efforts of Not 1 More Acre! and other expansion opponents.
The controversy over Piñon Canyon has spread from a local issue to one of statewide and national concern. Elected bodies including the United States Congress, the Colorado General Assembly and many County Commissions have publicly denounced the Army’s plans for expansion of the PCMS. Most notably, Representatives Marilyn Musgrave (R) and John Salazar (D) sponsored an amendment to the Military Construction and Veteran Affairs Appropriations Bill that prevents the Army from spending any funds to promote the expansion of Piñon Canyon for one year. On June 15, 2007, the United States House of Representatives voted 383-34 to adopt the amendment, which passed in the United States Senate on September 5, 2007 and was signed into law by President Bush over his objections on December 26, 2007.
Despite significant victories, the fight to save Pinon Canyon is far from over. Unless renewed by Congress the one-year funding moratorium will soon expire. The Army released initiated scoping on a new EIS called “Grow the Forces” that contemplates further construction at and increased use of the PCMS. We need your help in fighting the Army’s plans to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site. Please contact your Senators and members of Congress and let them know that you oppose the Piñon Canyon expansion. Visit www.rocktheearth.org for updates.
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