Text fwd: Update on the signature campaign to stop Army growth and Pinon Canyon Expansion

* The site below forwarded by Bill Sulzman on Feb. 28, 2009 *

* Related blog*

http://nobasestorieskorea.blogspot.com/2009/02/text-video-fwd-sign-petition-to-stop.html


Yesterday we faxed 36 pages of signatures and comments on our petition to the NEPA coordinator who is overseeing the EIS at Fort Carson and to Congressman Barney Frank who is leading the campaign to cut Pentagon spending in the House or Representatives


Here are the 2 news notes from yesterday's Independent

Locals oppose Army growth

Though President Barack Obama has said he plans to start pulling the military out of Iraq, local activists want to see him go a step further by stepping back from plans to expand the military.

"We need a reversal of policy," says Bill Sulzman, arguing that the expansion is not needed and doesn't make sense given the country's current economic circumstances.

The "Grow the Army" plan started by George W. Bush's administration is supposed to add a newly formed brigade to Fort Carson in coming years, adding close to 4,000 troops to a base that already will be swelling with new troops from base realignments.

Sulzman now has close to 300 signatures on his online petition at thepetitionsite.com/1/do-not-grow-the-army ,as well as about 150 hard-copy signatures. A final environmental impact statement for the Grow the Army plan at Fort Carson was released Feb. 5; Sulzman has 30 days from that date to submit his petition for possible inclusion with the final report. — AL

Piñon manager removed

A strange hush has greeted news that Tom Warren, a civilian overseeing expansion of the Army's Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site in southeastern Colorado, has been reassigned to other duties during an "administrative investigation."

"I don't know what to think," says Lon Robertson, a leader of opposition to the expansion proposal.

Warren, who has been involved with Piñon Canyon since it was established in 1983, has gotten mixed reviews from that area's residents. They've watched him limit environmental impact, but also have come to see him as the face of the Army's Piñon Canyon expansion goals. (The Army has scrapped its aim to grow the 238,000-acre training site by more than 400,000 acres, but still wants approximately 100,000 acres.)

Col. Eugene Smith, Fort Carson's garrison commander, says the investigation of Warren has nothing to do with the proposed expansion, according to the Pueblo Chieftain. — AL