The majesty of Pikes Peak is a wonder to behold. During the past 200 years, it has inspired song, exploration and athletic achievement.
“America’s Mountain” deserves to be recognized and preserved. In 1975, it was listed as a national historic landmark and it is managed as if it were a national park.
Civic-minded residents from Colorado Springs have proposed seeking a national monument designation for the venerable 14,110-foot peak in an effort to get federal money to rebuild a snack bar, curio shop and employee bunkhouse.
While we love the mountain just as much as the next Coloradan, surely there is a better way.
A national monument is a protected area, similar to a national park. But Pikes Peak is already protected. There is no looming threat, and designating it a monument doesn’t fit with the original intent of the designation. The Antiquities Act of 1906 gives the president the power to declare national monuments on land with historic landmarks and structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest. The act was created out of concern over protecting Native American ruins.
To be sure, the act has been interpreted broadly. Last year, President Bush used it to protect 140,000 square miles of the Pacific. But if this is a straight-up effort to renovate a 42-year-old building atop Pikes Peak, it seems there should be a more appropriate way of securing funding for such a project.
