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Army wages a range war

La Junta ranchers, residents oppose military's plans to expand its weapons training site

Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 12, 2006 at midnight

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LA JUNTA - This quiet corner of southeast Colorado has met an unlikely enemy: the U.S. Army.

The military branch wants to expand an existing weapons training site onto many of the parched cattle ranches that have sustained the fragile economies of nearby towns and villages. But the emerging opponents go far beyond the area's longtime ranchers. They seem to include just about everyone in this particular town - from a waitress at the local watering hole to a bank president to a veterinarian who performs C-sections on pregnant cows.

"It's not a good thing for us," said La Junta City Manager Rick Klein, who grew up in this town of about 7,500 residents. "There's zero positive impact."

When the Army wanted to build the existing Piñon Canyon maneuver site in the early 1980s, it condemned ranches south of the town to get the roughly 250,000 acres it said it needed to train soldiers for war. It has drawn a big circle around the current site in hopes it will find enough willing sellers to more than double the size of its holdings if it gets approval to do so.

As more and more ranchers speak out against it, communities fear the Army will again resort to eminent domain to get what it wants.

"We have people doing this that are trained to be very aggressive and win," said Zane Leininger, a veterinarian in a La Junta-based practice catering to large animals. "They're trained to get by you and mow you down one way or another. The normal citizen doesn't think that way."

The Army notes that it has yet to secure funding for the expansion plan and says it will seek public input once it gets approval from the Pentagon. It also maintains that times have changed and more training ground is required.

When Piñon Canyon was established "the country enjoyed the luxury of peace," according to an Army statement provided by Karen Edge, Piñon Canyon outreach coordinator at Fort Carson.

With the nation now at war, the Army said, the site must "evolve with the continually advancing weapons capable of delivering greater firepower over greater distances."

That doesn't sit well with ranchers Bob and John Davidson, two brothers who bought out their siblings and together have been operating the family ranch for several decades.

On the miles of dusty dirt road that lead to the Davidson ranch east of La Junta, antelope and their babies scatter at the sight of a car. Cows in the middle of the road move more slowly.

A jack rabbit darts indecisively back and forth in front of a moving vehicle making its way to Bob Davidson's modest ranch house.

"We've spent our lives paying for this place," the 62-year-old said as he showed a visitor around the 44,000-acre property last week. "We've long since decided we don't want to sell or we'd be retired. We've never learned to play. This is just, flat, our life."

He navigated his GMC truck through a stream and over the rocky terrain, passing a buffalo jump Indians once used to capture their prey.

About two miles away, the Davidsons point out the ancient petroglyphs that adorn a sandstone bluff near where the Purgatory River flows through the ranch. The setting sun, turning from orange to crimson, continues to awe the Davidsons, even though they've spent their entire lives here except the years they attended college in other parts of the state.

"People have spent generations building this up," said John Davidson, 65. "They're going to come in one swipe and tear it down."

The Army has yet to convince the Davidsons it needs more space at the expense of their livelihood.

"I don't think there's a rancher who isn't a patriot," Bob Davidson said as he stopped his truck to point out a young coyote in the distance. "We're as American as anybody."

While ranchers fret about being forced off their land, those dependent on the industry also expect to take a hit if the plan moves forward.

On a busy weeknight at the Hog's Breath Saloon on the edge of town, waitress Tammy Evett delivered plates of fries and the rib-eye special to locals and tourists visiting nearby historic sites or just passing through on U.S. 50.

Restaurant staff wear T-shirts with the slogan: "A hog's breath is better than no breath." Animal skulls, dollar bills and guns hang from the walls next to the bar at the rear.

"The land they're talking about has been in people's families for generations," Evett said. "The impact (on employment) would be devastating - there wouldn't be anything left to do."

That worries Wayne Snider, head of the La Junta Economic Development Alliance, whose job is to attract more business to the area, not let it slip away.

Earlier this year, the town lost its Bay Valley Foods pickle plant and the 150 jobs that went with it. Down the road in Lamar, even more jobs vanished with a bus plant closure.

Snider says La Junta would take a big hit if the ranches and related businesses disappear. That's because the town depends on sales tax revenues to pay for schools and other services.

Many ranchers travel as far as 60 miles to buy and sell cattle at the weekly sales.

"There's a domino effect if you're no longer coming to town to buy things," said Otero County Commissioner Kevin Karney, who has a ranch in the area under consideration.

State Bank President Tricia Kreps, for instance, said cattle ranchers account for the biggest portion of the bank's loan portfolio.

She said some ranchers have already sold their water rights to aid more development along the Front Range. "I support the military but when you take all the water and the land, there's going to be a day of reckoning," Kreps said.

Ranchers also frequent La Junta to shop for supplies, buy their feed and visit the grocery stores.

"There's nothing wrong with relying on agriculture, but this area needs diversification," Snider said.

Even if the military project moves forward, he wants the government to offer ways to replace jobs that could be affected. He awaits word on whether La Junta made a list of semifinalists for a proposed research facility.

"If they (the government) are going to take something away, they need to give something back," Snider said.

The uncertainty over the timing of a possible site expansion - and a question mark over which of more than 1 million acres might become part of the site - has put the whole region into limbo.

Wallace Oil Co. had considered expanding into another town in the area but said it needs to know "who, what, when and where" before it moves forward with any deal.

"What they didn't count on is the community banding together," said Jim Wallace. "The public outcry may make them rethink."

While Fort Carson's ranks will soon increase by 10,000 soldiers, surrounding towns say they have yet to see extra business from having the training area in their backyards for more than two decades.

Because soldiers can travel by train from the Colorado Springs area, there's little opportunity for military personnel to patronize local establishments.

"I venture to say I know a little more about it than some general in Washington," said La Junta Mayor Don Rizzuto. "I'm not spoiling for a fight here. But the dust of the prairies runs pretty deep in my veins."

Weapons training site

• The site: The U.S. Army's 250,000-acre Piñon Canyon maneuver site near La Junta is used to train soldiers stationed at Fort Carson, a little over 100 miles away.

• The latest: The Army has released a map and confirmed the addition of 418,000 acres to the site, to be acquired through purchases and condemnation. It will be used for further training.

• Army's view: It needs more land for maneuvers, given the increasing number of soldiers at Fort Carson.

• Residents' view: The area's fledgling tourism industry will be hurt by the expansion, and remaining ranchers will be pushed out.

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