Commentary: Senator Salazar effectively kills Pinon Canyon expansion

On Wednesday, Sen. Ken Salazar introduced an amendment to the Military Appropriation Act, which, if it becomes law, will effectively kill the proposed Pinon Canyon expansion -- not just for a year, but most likely forever.

The bill seems innocuous enough. It's identical to the bill introduced in the House by Reps. John Salazar and Marilyn Musgrave. It would forbid the Army from spending money on the expansion for a year.

Together with Sen. Wayne Allard, Salazar introduced a companion bill, which requires the Army to justify the expansion, study alternative means of procuring the land, such as leases, and explore ways of providing win-win solutions for both ranchers and the Army.

It may sound OK, but it's not.

In the real world, as state Rep. Bob Gardner pointed out on Wednesday, it's a lot easier to make laws than to unmake them. Next year is an election year, so it's highly unlikely that either party will take any action that might be construed as controversial, such as re-starting the expansion process.

And then a new administration will be installed in Washington, with new faces, new priorities and new ideas. It's unlikely that the expansion, which is broadly unpopular in much of Colorado, will be at the top of anybody's list.

Opponents have charged that the Army has "failed to make its case" for the expansion.

This is simply untrue, as Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce Vice President Brian Binn pointed out.

"It's very important that we understand that the Army has done a good job in justifying the expansion," he said. "(Changes in military tactics) mean that the Army will need another 5 million acres of maneuver space by 2011."

And if not Pinon Canyon, where?

Clearly, there's lots of available land in the western United States where the Army could construct an entire new base (in Nevada, for example) and have plenty of maneuver space. Of course, if they did so, it would be vastly expensive and they'd have to cut back somewhere else -- and that "somewhere else" might well be Fort Carson.

Gardner didn't mince words when he described Salazar's amendment as "hypocritical and irresponsible." Sadly, we have to agree.

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