COMING THIS WEEK:

>TOWN HALL MEETINGS WITH SENATOR UDALL     

Senator Mark Udall will be conducting a Town Hall Meeting in Trinidad in the Pioneer Room at Trinidad State Junior College.  The meeting will be held on Thursday, January 12th, from 4:00 to 5:00 pm.    

and another Town Hall Meeting in La Junta at the Student Center at Otero Junior College. The meeting will be held on Friday, January 13th, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm.      

>Ag Producers Roundtable with Senator Bennett's staff 

Senator Bennett's staff  will hold an ag producers roundtable  Wed January 11th at Otero Jr College, in the Stafford Theatre from 10:00 to 12:00 for all ag producers  

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We urge you to attend with us.

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We need to make and keep them aware of our concerns:  

· The Waiver - The Department of Defense waiver which grants a permit to the Army to acquire 418,000 acres remains in place in spite of the fact that it is now five years old and no longer accurately represents the current situation.  Since Army Secretary McHugh has promised that Pinon Canyon expansion has been taken off the table for at least five more years, the waiver serves only to impede the improvement of relations between the Army and the people of Southeastern Colorado.   

           The Trinidad Chamber of Commerce, the Las Animas County Board of Commissioners and Colonel McLaughlin, Fort Carson Garrison Commander have all agreed that the removal of the waiver would be of mutual benefit to our regional economic development, the protection of property rights in Las Animas County, and to improved relations between the Army and the people of our region.  We need to thank the senators for their past efforts to bring closure to this issue and ask them to reintroduce the idea of terminating the waiver to Defense Secretary Panetta.   

·Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) - The military is currently attempting to lay claim to air space immediately above our homes and property for training.  The invasion of the space as low as 50 feet constitutes the taking of our private property.  We need to urge the senators to take immediate action to prevent the Department of Defense from depriving citizens from developing their private property for such things as alternative energy development.

· Pinon Canyon Expansion- We need to make sure that the senators understand that any use of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site beyond those described in the 1982 Pinon Canyon Environmental Impact Statement, EIS, would constitute a violation of the ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch.  This includes the CAB. 

· Fort Lyons- We should urge Senator Udall and Senator Bennet to do all that they can to help find a re-purposing of Fort Lyons, but that they should make it clear that use of the facility is not a bargaining chip to be used to buy support of Pinon Canyon Expansion.