:: What's at Stake? :: ::AN OVERVIEW::

Agriculture

	Cattle grazing on threatened grasslands in Colorado.

Agriculture is one of the cornerstones of society, even though many people take it for granted, it is very much a national security issue. The United States is already dependent on foreign oil, what will happen if we become dependent on foreign countries for our food supplies as well?

Agriculture is still the occupation of almost 50% of the world's population, but the numbers vary from less than 3% in industrialized countries to over 60% in Third World countries. On this continent, one or two percent of the population produce the food for 98 percent of the population. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the less people producing food in this country equals more food being imported.

As Americans we are in danger of losing an important feature of our cultural landscape; family farms and ranches.  The small scale of ranching operations within the proposed expansion area are threatened with becoming a thing of the past.  These family ranches are an important asset, worth preserving, not only for the sake of the multi-generational ranching families  who have exercised careful stewardship of the land, but also for the sake of a public which is increasingly interested in knowing where their food is coming from and who's producing it.

Just like in the situation with the PCMS, farmers and ranchers and the economies that rely on them are suffering, but if we continue to rely more and more on food production from outside the US, we’re all going to be suffering. Dependence on foreign oil is a huge issue without adding dependence on foreign food. If our food producers are cut, chances are good that some time in the future we’ll be sending our soldiers off to fight and die for food, or because of it.

If this were the only place in the country facing a threat to farmers and ranchers it wouldn’t be so bad, unfortunately though, farmers and ranchers all over North America are facing these issues. Our threat is just magnified because it takes out a large production group all at once. The PCMS expansion is an American issue, and unfortunately it highlights some serious mismanagement and lack of vision by those we’ve elected to represent us.

Here are some interesting articles on food production, and agriculture as a culture (because agricultural producers – farmers and ranchers – are different from the general population, according to the American Psychological Association anyway...)

Agriculture is a Unique Culture
La Junta Tribune Democrat, CO – Aug. 28, 2006
... Now that there's less than one percent of us left in agriculture, the American Psychological Association has created a whole new area of study to deal with us...

Farm Crisis Myths Dispelled
Stolen Moments ~an environmental/political weblog~ June 23, 2006
About Canadian Farming, but makes excellent points about the struggles small family farmers in North America face in the 21st Century.

Economy

Expansion would have drastic adverse effects on the livelihoods of hundreds of ranching families. But effects are not limited to them, although they will be the most directly impacted. The counties and communities surrounding the current PCMS depend on agriculture and ranching.

Entire cities and towns would be removed from existence, except as maybe urban warfare training sites.

	"Potential to use existing structures/utilities infrastructure supporting urban operations training." Analysis of Alternatives, Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site, Apr. 2005. Might that be something that the Army has in mind for Kim High School, in Kim, Colorado? Does the Army really even need the land to train here? The school is still very much in use and the vibrant community of Kim is alive and well.

It would totally devastate the local economies throughout the region, and would dry up the tax base that supports vital rural services, like fire, ambulance, law enforcement, and schools. There are about 50,000 people here who would be affected by this. This is a rural area, Agriculture is the engine of this economy and if you move the ranchers and farmers off their land you put those farms and ranches out of business.

And once those farms and ranches are out of business, they're likely to stay out of business, because of the current state of the economy -- and land prices around the country -- it's virtually impossible for a landowner to pick up stakes and find a suitable amount of land anywhere else in the country to resume operations.

Las Animas County (the county that would be most affected by expansion):

• Number of Farms/Ranches: 567
• Land in Farms/Ranches: 2,304,766 acres
• Market value of production: $20,887,000
  • Crop sales accounted for $761,000
  • Livestock sales accounted for $20,126,000
  • Cattle and calves sales accounted for $19,758,000 of the $20,126,000 in livestock sales. Market value of production, average per Farm/Ranch: $36,838.
  • Cattle and calf inventory: 41,227

When the farms and ranches go, so does about 40 percent of already struggling businesses profits. There’ll be trickle down economics alright, but not in a good way. Businesses will close, people will go bankrupt, and cities and towns whose economies rely on agriculture will die off economically. All this in an already hard hit region that’s trying to pick itself up and dust itself off from a couple of large industry closures and the loss of about 300 jobs.

To put that in perspective for you, that would equate to the loss of 20,000 jobs in the Denver metro area – But the Denver metro would still have its service infrastructure intact (fire, police, sanitation, etc.). That’s just the already lost jobs, not the impact of losing an additional 40 percent of your economy on top of that, creating more losses.

The region is already feeling an economic impact due to the proposed expansion as businesses, and people interested in purchasing property in the region (which would create jobs), have backed off because of the uncertainty of the situation. People in the region are not paying to have improvements or repairs made to their property while the axe of expansion hangs over their necks -- even further dampening economic prospects.

There is NO Plus Side to this at all for the communities and counties in the region which is why so many have come out in opposition to the expansion.

One thing needs to be made clear, even with no expansion to PCMS, Colorado Springs and Colorado itself will get troops and continue to benefit from Fort Carson and the influx of troops. The Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) stated that there is adequate space at Fort Carson even without expansion of the current PCMS. Their own words say the destruction of SE Colorado isn’t necessary to get the troops to move to Fort Carson.

"The Commission’s independent and objective analysis showed that, with or without including Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site in the accounting of acreage, Fort Carson still has more contiguous maneuver acres per brigade combat team than Fort Hood. The Commission views the UEx headquarters relocation to Fort Carson, CO, as important to provide the four planned BCTs with an appropriate-level command and control headquarters." BRAC COMMISSION FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY May 13, 2005

We're not trying to stop troops transferring to Fort Carson, or tell the Army they're not welcome in Colorado. We're just saying that the Army has plenty of land available to meet it's needs, and no expansion of the PCMS is necessary.

Sustainability

It's just not sustainable, Pinon Canyon Expansion, A sustainability failure...

The Fifth Annual Fort Carson Sustainability Conference (Nov. 8 & 9, 2006 in Colorado Springs) has been promoted as a "forum to provide updates on the installation's progress toward sustainability to all stakeholders ... along the Front Range."

Its stated intention is to, solicit continued community involvement with Fort Carson and the regional sustainablity and strategic plans." But one community, one major group of stakeholders has been excluded from Fort Carson's sustainability planning; the people living within the planned Pinon Canyon expansion.

The Pinon Canyon expansion has been going through the planning process for the last five years, but people living in Southeastern Colorado didn't have a clue that the Army was planning to "sustain" Fort Carson by seizing their land and forcing them from their homes.

The Fort Carson Sustainability and Environmental Management System (SEMS) Web site defines sustainability as "acting today to meet the needs of the present in a manner that allows future generations to meet their needs. Sustainability considers not only the environmental aspects and impacts of operations and decisions, but it also considers the social factors associated with an organizations actions. Operating in a sustainable fashion goes beyond compliance, saves money and considers the well-being of everyone on the post and in the community, now and in the future."

This definition of sustainability is being contradicted by the proposed expansion. Planning has happened without any involvement by the stakeholders who would be most affected. The expansion would destroy all possibility for "future generations" of ranchers and those whose economy would be affected by expansion to "meet their needs." Lip service is given to, "social factors associated with an organizations actions." But the social reality of the devastating impact that the plan would have on ranching communities and nearby cities and towns has been ignored.

It would seem that when Fort Carson developed their plan, the only definition of "the community" was the Colorado Springs community.

Exploitation is not Sustainable Developement

True sustainability is never achieved through the exploitation of poorer or politically less powerful people in other communities, whether they are people in third-world countries, or poorer counties in the state.

Expansion itself is not sustainable

There is currently an Environmental Impact Statement being prepared for the Pinon Canyon Transformation. The Draft EIS (which you can get a copy of here: http://www.hqda.army.mil/acsim/brac/nepa_eis_docs.htm) reveals its own unsustainability. In the section titled Maneuver Training at PCMS it calculates the training land requirements for all of the additional troops coming to Fort Carson and says, "This training load is not possible and becomes more unrealistic when factoring in conflicts attributable to "

Natural Capitalism recognizes that no human system that systematically degrades either natural or social capital can long endure.

History and Culture

“Negative impacts will be devastating to the Santa Fe Trail Scenic and Historic Byway.”

	A map showing Santa Fe Trail historic sites, with the rough outline (the map is not to scale) of the 5 million acre expansion. [ click map to view fullsize ]

To save our historic treasures and share in the stewardship of the Santa Fe Trail. We are hopeful that the protests of preservationists, elected officials and stakeholders will be heard by our government and the Piñon Canyon area expansion will not take place. -- Wyvonne Phillips - Santa Fe Trail Scenic and Historic Byway Mountain Branch.

The Southeastern Colorado region is a veritable gold mine of history and culture, according to the Federal Government’s own Draft Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands Land Management Plan, of December 21, 2005:

“More than 80 percent of the Canyonlands has been inventoried for heritage resources. Over 500 archeological sites have been documented that span approximately the past 11,500 years. Approximately 54 percent of these sites are considered significant and eligible to the National Register of Historic Places ...

	A group that is one of thousands of unspoilt petroglyphs that dot the region. [ click photo to view fullsize ]

The uniqueness of the Canyonlands owes primarily to its prehistoric sites, which have remained almost completely undisturbed. The excellent preservation and high-density of Late Prehistoric (A.D. 100-1450) sites — with features such as domestic architecture, rock art, and middens with thousands or even tens of thousands of discarded tools and food refuse items — makes this an ideal area for future research on the geographical, cultural and temporal relationships of a long-term Late Prehistoric community in southeastern Colorado.”

From Dinosaurs, to Prehistoric settlements, to settlements of the Old West, this canyonlands has seen them all, and now if the Army gets its way, no one will ever see them again.

	Allosaurus track at the largest dinosaur track site in North America. About 150 million years ago, dinosaurs inhabited this land, trekking across the shore of a shallow lake, where Picketwire Canyon now lies, and leaving more than 1,300 footprints in the mud for later residents to find. [ click photo to view fullsize ]

• Dinosaurs
• The Folsom Culture
• Ancient People of Mystery
• Native Americans
• Spanish Explorers
• Trappers and Traders
• Hispanic Settlers
• Santa Fe Trail Travelers
• Ranchers and Farmers

All have left their imprints on this land...

The Army has identified 677 eligible properties on the current Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site which are eligible for designation on the National Register of Historic Places, including 98 archeological Sites. The Expansion would swallow thousands of sites including those in the Purgatory and Apishipa River Valleys.

Hidden away in the canyons is the evidence of 4000 years of habitation, and if the Army gets their way, only tanks and troops will have access, not to mention the destruction of many of these priceless historical and cultural resources that will ensue.

Family

Many families are threatened by the expansion. This is the story of one of those families, the Jackson's, as written by a family member. People should not think that this story is the only one, there are many more like it. Older multigenerational families like the Jackson's as well as newer families with a love for their land are threatened by the Pentagon's lust for land.

Bud and Lillian Jackson Family

The Jackson’s may not be the oldest family in the Kim community but our roots go back as far as most. Our great-grandfathers were among the first homesteaders arriving in the early 1900’s. Many families came but few had the endurance to last through the 30’s, the 50’s or the 80’s – but some did. Those who remain cherish the land as a family heirloom to be preserved for future generations. The last 90 years of hardship is pale in comparison to governmental seizure – which is a one way trip with no return.

	Bud and Lillian Jackson

Lillian’s grandfather’s Jasper Newton Seay and Logan Richmond Davis both homesteaded in the Tobe area about 15 miles west of Kim.

Lillian’s mother, Marie Davis, married the Reagan fork of the family tree. The Reagan’s homesteaded south of the Villegreen store when Clell Reagan was only five. In the 1930’s the elder Reagans moved to Trinidad, but Clell and Earl remained in the Villegreen community. Clell Reagan worked for the T7 ranch as a cowboy until he could put together enough financing to purchase a place of his own. Clell and Marie accumulated their acreage by fixing up and trading up.

Their first new home was built where Everett and Flow Jackson currently live. From there they moved to the place currently owned by Johnnie Mayhan. Their next move was to the place Clell always dreamed of owning just north of the Villegreen Store, which is the current home of Lester Jackson. This land is currently owned and operated by their grandchildren.

The William Jackson’s, Bill and Lula, were not homesteaders but multi talented entrepreneurs whom purchased a foothold in the Villegreen Community in 1940. The rest could probably be summed up in one word “wheat”. A bumper wheat crop in 1947 put them on firm financial ground. The next 22 years wheat and cows were good to them. Bill continued to purchase small parcels of land and had accumulated several thousand acres before his death in 1959. All of his land is currently owned/operated by his daughter-in-law Lillian (Seay) Jackson and his grandson Lester Jackson.

If you pick up a Kim phone book you will find many Jackson’s listed but it doesn’t matter which number you dial you are calling one of Bill and Lula’s children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or great-great-grandchildren. Being a prolific group, the generations tend to meld, with only a couple years between generations in some instances. The succession of management began forty some years ago with the fourth, fifth and sixth generations. Direct descendants include fifty potential managers ages 45 years to 12 months. Eighty percent of Bill and Lula’s direct descendants, that are of working age, are agriculture producers or employed in a field that directly supports agriculture.

After Bud and Lillian were married they worked the farm with Bill and Lula. The drought of the 1950’s required a short leave of absence to work in the steel mill in Pueblo. With a new grub stake, they returned to the farm. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree, Buds’ passion was farming and cattle. He was especially proud of the Gelbvieh herd he and his son Lester developed through artificial insemination and imported semen. For more that forty years, Lillian supplemented the family income with a contract mail route. True to family tradition, Bud and Lillian added acreage as parcels became available. Lillian still owns all parcels they purchased.

Bud and Lillian have seventeen children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of working age. Fourteen of the seventeen are agriculture producers or employed by an industry that directly services agriculture. Agriculture intelligence is not taught - it falls from the tree.

You can bet on one thing – any member of this family that does not currently live in the “area of interest” is working, planning and saving to go back. Our hopes and dreams are being smashed, the same as the current inhabitants.

To my knowledge, a Jackson has never lost or sold an acre of land outside of the family. It breaks our hearts that “Uncle Sam” will confiscate the opportunity for future generations to exercise the option of continuing the agriculture legacy, if they so choose.

Nature and Ecosystem

The proposed expansion would destroy a “whole” consisting of ecology, history, archeology, and culture.  This intact and balanced short-grass prairie is inextricably linked with a sustainable human agricultural economy.   The history and archeology of these canyons and grasslands are not fenced off and set aside, but rather live and function within the ranching culture.  This is a place where the human component doesn’t exist at the expense of the natural but instead functions within a dynamic ecosystem.   The proposed expansion would displace a culture, turn living history into dead static history, and litter a wild fragile landscape with tank tracks and live fire munitions debris.

 

A sustainable human culture:

The ranching culture of SE Colorado is rich in what historians call “cultural knowledge” and what the locals call common sense.  The core knowledge of this culture is fairly simple: “Take care of your land and it will take care of you”.  These people intuitively understand that the health of their livelihood depends directly on the health of the ecosystem they manage.  The power of this simple paradigm is born out by the largest biological study (over 2,000,000 acres) ever conducted on contiguous private lands.  Biologists with the Colorado Natural Heritage Program (Colorado State University) concluded that “this area has a high landscape integrity and very high conservation value – a testament to the quality of management by the landowners in this area. 

The ranching culture of SE Colorado is not wealthy but it is rich with hard work, tradition, relationships, and resourcefulness.  Work ethic is at the core of this culture.  These people don’t need vacations or time off, their work is their play and their land is their life.  Traditions abound, for example the horsemanship of the area combines the vaquero knowledge and tools from the Southwest and California with the methods and tack of the Texas horseman’s tradition.  Rich relationships and resourcefulness are also embodied in the tradition of trading labor. These small family scale ranches don’t have “cowboy crews”.  Instead neighbors and friends gather in the spring to brand each others calves and in the fall to wean and ship calves.  These events are at once social, cultural and business.  Where else do small businesses routinely pool their labor efficiently and effectively?  The current PCMS has created a large(235,000 acre)  black hole within this culture.  An expansion would destroy it.

The Army’s Actions Endanger this Intact Balanced Ecosystem:

• SE CO soils will take decades to recover from Heavy Tracked Maneuvers.  Quoting Dr. Ken Lair, a Restoration Ecologist and Research Botanist: “ Witness the results of the USDA land restoration programs immediately following the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s in this region (aka Comanche National Grasslands, as well as interspersed private lands), and more recently, the Conservation Reserve Program since 1985 that has converted highly erodible private cropland back to native plant communities throughout this region.  Both of these restoration programs are prime examples of a) the length of time (decades typically) that it requires to restore a self-sustaining, stable, non-erosive vegetative community following severe disturbance; and b) how ethically tragic and scientifically / ecologically irresponsible it would be if the good results of these programs were negated or nullified through introduction of new disturbance”.
• Vast amounts of eroded soils will make their way into water sources, increasing sediment loading within the waters of the Purgatoire Watershed.  The Purgatoire and its tributaries are home to many rare native fish species that would be threatened by heavy sediment loading.
• High-tech warfare may very well introduce toxic chemicals onto the land and ultimately into our water supplies.
• Wildlife will be severely displaced and disturbed during maneuvers.

The Short Grass Prairie Ecosystem is Dependent on Grazing to Remain Healthy and Vigorous:

Grazing by large ruminants is a keystone process of the grassland ecosystem. A keystone process is one that has significant impact on the entire ecosystem. Grazing begins with the plant-grazer interaction, but the effects of grazing are critical to species at all levels of the system.   In a world without buffalo, and with fences and roads, the management of grazing determines its positive and negative affects.  Properly managed grazing systems are exemplified by most Southeastern Colorado ranchersUnder private management the prairies and canyons of SE Colorado provide a number of ecosystem services:

Native American History

• Rock Art:  petroglyphs and pictographs
• Cliff shelters
• Teepee Rings
• Gravesites and burial grounds
• Beads to Pottery

Hispanic History

• Placitas
• Religious sites
• Cemeteries
• Sheep grazing
• Masonry

Westward Expansion

• Santa Fe Trail
• Anglo homesteads
• Livestock structures
• Graves
• Springs

These historical components are an integral part of today’s world in SE Colorado.  The ranching culture doesn’t preserve history; this culture incorporates history into daily life.  Old buildings are not generally torn down, nor are they fenced off for preservation.  Instead they are maintained and modified for use in today’s world.  A rich oral tradition gives all of the historical components life and context in today’s culture.

 

Our National Security can't handle any more Agricultural Land taken out of production

We Need your help!!

Please click I can Help to find out what can be done.

I Can Help
Alerts

We ask everyone to join us and to push our leaders and legislators to rein in the DOD and hold them accountable. Let's stop these wasteful and destructive efforts to seize a huge portion of land in Colorado larger than the State of Connecticut. Click I CAN HELP button above and get started.