Allard undecided on Pinon Canyon plan

Senator says expansion could boost Carson

Ivan Moreno, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 22, 2007 at midnight

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U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard said Thursday he's asked acting -Army Secretary Pete Geren what the economic impacts at Fort Carson are if the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site expansion fails.

The message from Geren, Allard said, is clear.

"If they can expand the Piñon Canyon area, they would have a better chance of securing some brigades at Fort Carson," Allard said Geren told him.

The implication that the Army would not be able to secure brigades at Fort Carson in the future has led opponents of the Piñon expansion plan to accuse the Army of using "bullying tactics."

"If Senator Allard spent as much time talking to landowners as he does to the military, he would realize the dire social, economic, environmental and scientific consequences of the Pentagon's plan," said Lon Robertson, president of the Piñon Canyon Expansion Opposition Coalition.

The Republican senator said in a conference call with reporters Thursday that he has yet to decide whether to support the Army's desire to add 418,000 acres of ranch and grasslands to the current 238,000 acre maneuver site Fort Carson uses.

The House voted 383-34 on June 15 to pass an amendment to a military spending bill that would deprive the Army of planning money for the project.

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