COLORADO SPRINGS - Opponents of Fort Carson's proposed Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site expansion sued the Army on Friday, claiming that it failed to provide documents sought under the Freedom of Information Act.

The citizens group, Not 1 More Acre, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver, demanding that the Army produce documents it had sought since last December.

Fort Carson spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Johnson said he was unfamiliar with the controversy over the FOIA requests, but added the Army supports open dialogue on its proposal.

"The Army will openly and honestly seek to involve the public and agencies to comment in this process," Johnson said.

The documents pertain to environmental conditions of the arid ecosystems of Piñon Canyon and the impact the Army has had on them. The Army acquired the land in the early 1980s and began using it for mechanized training in 1985.

The lawsuit asked the federal court to order the Army to respond.

"We're telling the Army that we want the documents, and the law says you're either required to give us the documents or tell us why we can't have them," said Michael Gustafson, an attorney representing Not 1 More Acre.

The Army announced last week it would begin the process of tripling the current 368- square-mile site, adding land that would stretch from north of Trinidad almost to LaJunta, much of it owned by ranchers and farmers.

More land is needed to meet the needs of modern mechanized warfare and accommodate Fort Carson's expansion from 16,000 troops to 25,000 troops by 2009, the Army says.

Not 1 More Acre is one of two citizens groups organized by southeastern Colorado residents who oppose the expansion.

The suit filed Friday, however, stems from the Army's alleged failure to provide documents in an earlier expansion proposal filed in October for the current Piñon Canyon site. That proposal includes installing a live-fire range and a hand grenade range, and constructing medical and vehicle maintenance facilities, motor pools, and other support buildings.

The documents sought by the group would be equally important to it in opposing the Army's latest proposal to triple Piñon Canyon's maneuver area.

The Army has not begun compiling an Environmental Impact Statement for that land expansion. That EIS could take 18 months to two years to prepare, Army officials said this week.

The Friday lawsuit claims that Fort Carson's Freedom of Information Office was legally required to respond to the group's requests within 20 days by telling it when the records could be made available or, if not, why not.

fosterd@RockyMountainNews.com or 719-633-4442