A week after contentious meetings in Trinidad over plans to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Army leaders say they saw some thawing despite the icy reception.

On the surface it didn't seem that way. Local politicians blasted Fort Carson for wanting more land and a group of ranchers marched out of a meeting in protest and an official sent by the Pentagon conceded the Army has "a lot of work to do."

But Fort Carson's Lt. Col. James Rice says there are subtle signs the Army made some progress on its proposal to add 100,000 acres to the 235,000 acre training area.

"I don't want to paint this like people of lining up with deeds in their hands, but there is a good opportunity for dialog now," Rice said.

The Army came up with a new proposal last month that cut back its expansion plans by 300,000 acres and promised it would only buy land from people who want to sell. The Army sweetened the pot for local governments by promises of more than 100 jobs at the training site and $100 million in construction if the land deal goes through.

But opponents who have gone after the Army since details of the expansion first leaked out three years ago were apparently unmoved when the new plan was detailed in meetings in Trinidad.

Tom Warren, Fort Carson's deputy garrison commander overseeing the training area, said reactions following the meetings shows at least some people in the region are listening.

"Immediately after that meeting my phone started ringing and people wanted to meet with me," Warren said.

Army insiders said part of why the public and private reception of the plan is so different is that people who live near the training site don't want their neighbors to know they are talking to the Army.

The Army has long said that people in the area have said they'll sell, but opponents have maintained a unified front under the motto "Not For Sale." Now, with a clearer proposal on the table, some people are opening up.

"What we really have now is conditions for a dialog and what we had before was just head-butting," Rice said.

How the slight shift in public opinion might help the Army reach its goals is ripe for speculation. A few landowners might help the Army get closer, but the big job is to sell the expansion to Congress, which appears headed to pass its second yearlong moratorium on land purchases to expand Piñon Canyon.

But with a thaw in relations with ranchers at the heart of the opposition, there's hope, Rice said.

"The door for more open dialog has been opened or at least unlocked," he said.