WWII alpine training site to be national monument

The Biden administration is preparing to designate its first new national monument, preserving a World War Iiera alpine training site and providing a boost to the re-election campaign of the state’s senior Senator, Michael Bennet, according to a person familiar with the process.

The designation is expected to come next week, when the president will join Bennet, a fellow Democrat, and other elected officials in Colorado, according to the person, who declined to be identified discussing the designation before it is formally announced. Bennet is locked in a re-election fight with Republican businessman Joe O’dea, during which the Democrat has pushed the president to preserve Camp Hale, about 20 miles south of Vail.

The camp was where soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division trained in the harsh, wintry conditions of the Rocky Mountains in preparation for fighting in the Italian Alps during World War II. After the war, many returned to Colorado and played pivotal roles in the founding of the state’s ski industry.

Michael Bennet