Army officials visited Fort Carson Friday morning, a day after they announced they were scaling back the Pinon Canyon Expansion project from 418,000 to 100,000 acres.

"I can tell you 100,000 acres makes sense. Anything additional to that is right now out of our budget," said Keith Eastin, Assistant Secretary of the Army.

The Army already has 235,000 acres of land at the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site in Southeastern Colorado.

Now, they say they can make do with an additional 100,000 acres versus the 418,000 acres they originally asked for.

"If you have additional land, you can put additional forces on the ground at the same time," said Major General Mark Graham.

The expansion has become an on-going controversy.

Upset ranchers have publicly spoke out over the past few years. They don't want to give up their land.

But, the Army says the 100,000 acres they want will come from willing sellers.

"We're not trying to disturb ranchers way of life. If they choose to sell, they can determine what they want to do with the project," said Eastin.

The Army also says it doesn't anticipate having to ask ranchers for more land anytime soon.

"It's highly unlikely we will be back in any foreseeable future," said Eastin.

Army officials would like to talk with those ranchers, who are willing to sell their land, as soon as possible. But, the Army can't purchase the land until a moratorium is lifted by Congress.