clipped from: online.wsj.com DENVER -- The U.S. Army owns nearly 10 million acres of land across the U.S., and it wants more in remote southeastern Colorado, which it says is ideal for intense combat training.
The problem is that much of that prairie is owned by ranchers who have run cattle across the plains for generations. And they have balked at turning over their rangeland to Uncle Sam.
For three years now, local ranchers have battled the Army to a standstill, blocking a planned expansion of the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, just north of the New Mexico border. That fight is reaching a crescendo, with the ranchers pushing Congress to permanently block the Army from expanding, potentially through eminent-domain claims.
For now, at least, the Army is trying to purchase the land from willing sellers, rather than taking it through eminent domain. But willing sellers are in short supply.