The Army created its Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in Southeastern Colorado in the 1980s. It was still the Cold War, and the Pentagon identified a shortage of training land at Fort Carson as weapons and tactics evolved. Through a series of public meetings and land acquisitions, the Army established the training site, but left a bitter taste in the mouths of many locals. More than twenty years later in 2006, the Army announced plans to expand the site, an act that spurred folks into organized resistance, which was eventually successful.
That resistance is the subject of a recent paper from two professors in Colorado Springs, who looked at the strategies employed by both the military and the opposition. UCCS Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies David Havlick and Colorado College professor of Southwest Studies Eric Perramond sat down with KRCC's Andrea Chalfin earlier this year to discuss their paper.
At the time this interview was recorded, the Army was undergoing a required review process for expanded training at the Maneuver Site, which has since been approved. The Army expressly stated that the expanded training would not require a physical expansion of the site. Many of the nearby residents say it's only a matter of time. Others expressed support of the changes, saying that the military simply has to have somewhere to train as strategies and technologies continue to evolve.
*