Changes on Pikes Peak

Panel Discussion for Celebrate Pikes Peak on August 19, 1997
Statement of John Stansfield, Conservation Chair, Pikes Peak Group of the Sierra Club

The question I have been asked to address as Sierra Club Representative is: "What vision does the environmental community have for Pikes Peak, and why is it important?"

In thinking about Pikes Peak, I find myself often agreeing with both sides of the statements Charles Dickens used to open A Tale of Two Cities:

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,
it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,
it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity..."

As with any vision, the status of Pikes Peak can be viewed optimistically or pessimistically at any point in time, as Dickens so well stated. But he also implies that neither extreme provides the clearest view. What is obvious to us now is that both the ecological condition of Pikes Peak and the human management of it have reached important crossroads; that numerous and substantial problems are evident there, but that several functional solutions to the problems stand before us--if we, as a regional community, choose to see them and take action on them. It may not be the "best" or the "worst" of times, but NOW is a critical time for Pikes Peak.

The most significant PROBLEM we see is this:

The view of the Mountain is very important to all of us, but clouds often limit our vision. Not thunder clouds, but clouds of human perception that are also often stormy. For example:

• Recreationists see their favorite use as paramount to others on public lands.
• Land managers administer singular bailiwicks patchworked across the land.
• Organizations seek political control to protect their ‘special interest’.
• Politicians make decisions in isolation, without perceiving the ecological result.
• Citizens are only reactive when faced with environmental threats.
• Communication among all concerned is inefficient and often confrontational.
• In an "age of foolishness", no one tries to see the forest for the trees.

Our SOLUTION is this--See ALL of the Mountain, the forest and the trees.

We must truly know that we live as part of a finite and dynamic system of interrelated physical and ecological processes. We live a reality, not a scientific theory, with real consequences to our actions in the system.

We must try to understand our place in that system (it’s not easy!) and behave appropriately and cooperatively as the ‘team members’ we are, by nature.

And, if we assume this to be an "age of wisdom", we must apply our ever expanding knowledge of physical and ecological process to Pikes Peak (and the world), utilizing such practices as conservation biology and ecosystem management, as well as good old-fashioned human communication.

So, you say, what does that mean specifically, on the ground? We envision:

1. An ecosystem-based planning process for all public lands and resources in the Pikes Peak Region. A Master Plan, if you will, which involves full participation by all involved public agencies, private organizations and the interested public. Such a planning process would let us begin to see the whole Mountain, the forest and the trees for the very first time.

And a Master Planning process is already underway. The City of Colorado Springs received a $60,000 GOCO grant this spring for a Pikes Peak Plan. How will it be implemented? When will it begin? Who will be involved? We have asked these questions of the City, but so far received no answer.

2. We envision a permanent multi-agency working group, with full public participation, implementing and updating the Master Plan. Working in partnership, this group would draw its authority from existing law and its funding from federal, state, local and private sources. The Plan would provide enhanced ecological, social and economic benefits.

3. We envision the completion of erosion controls and paving and substantial progress toward ecological restoration for the entire Pikes Peak Highway corridor by 2007. Operation of the Highway has been and continues to be ecologically destructive, economically wasteful and in violation of law. Regardless of what happens with other Highway-related issues, such as the Summit House, funding for roadway and drainage improvements must be the highest priority. To do otherwise is to build a castle on a foundation of sand.

(As we have already heard) The USFS recently began the approval process of Highway improvements. We urge you all to be involved in this process.

4. We envision a quick end to the year-round operation of Pikes Peak Highway. Anything other than seasonal operation in that environment heightens its ecological damage and wasted precious dollars that could be spent on the long-overdue improvements to the Highway.

5. And last, but of no less importance, we envision the designation of a Beaver Creek Wilderness Area of at least 30,000 acres in size, administered by the Bureau of Land Management. This Wilderness, on the south slope of Pikes Peak, would be the core of a larger conservation reserve managed to perpetuate the remarkable ecological diversity and landform of the area.

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Pikes Peak Regional Group, Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club
131 Williams Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80905-1413 - Phone: (719) 592-0963
Last updated February 12, 1999.