The Veterans Administration confirmed today that funding has been allocated for a third national cemetery in Colorado that has been long-sought by area veterans.Sen. Wayne Allard’s spokesman, Steve Wymer, said the commitment came from Veterans Administration Undersecretary William Tuerk.”They did not promise where it would be located, but the undersecretary said, ‘I am well aware the delegation wants it as far south as possible from Denver,'” Wymer said.Advocates have been looking at a site about 20 miles south of Colorado Springs owned by Colorado Springs Utilities.Wymer said the cemetery likely is years away, but the funding will allow surveying and appraisals to begin.”The assurance that the process of funding an additional VA cemetery in Colorado has begun is a tremendous development worth celebrating,” Allard said in a statement.Allard questioned Tuerk about $5 million in the 2009 budget for buying land for the cemetery.Tuerk confirmed the money will allow the VA to begin the land acquisition process and told Allard the cemetery will most likely be along the I-25 corridor, somewhere between Denver and Colorado Springs, to serve both veteran communities, Allard’s release said.”The Fort Logan VA cemetery will likely reach capacity by the year 2020,” Allard said in the statement. “It is necessary that Colorado military veterans have another location already in place before this happens.”Wymer said the cemetery has been a bipartisan effort by current and past lawmakers, including former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Allard, Sen. Ken Salazar, Rep. John Salazar and former Rep. Joel Hefley.”For the first time, we’ve had official public confirmation that funding has been made available to start this process and have a new national cemetery in Colorado for our veterans,” Wymer said.CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com

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