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Blazing new trails
Mount Blue Sky?
Outside 285 working to improve trail connectivity in the region BY DEB HURLEY BROBST DBROBST@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Fred Mosqueda, Arapaho coordinator of the Culture Program of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, said Mount Evans’ name automatically reminds his community of the massacre and the hurt it has caused even generations later. Meanwhile, the proposed name is significant to both tribes as the Arapaho were known as the Blue Sky People among other tribes,
It’s time to bring some trail love to the foothills. A group called Outside 285 is creating a trails master plan for projects that would provide visitors with better experiences. The 36-member steering committee is ensuring that all stakeholders have a voice in determining what projects will optimize recreation opportunities while still focusing on maintaining wildlife habitats. The resulting master plan will provide ways to connect trails along U.S. 285 in a region that spans Jefferson, Clear Creek and Park counties and includes Staunton State Park, Waterton Canyon, Buffalo Creek, Guanella Pass, Jeffco Open Space, Mount Evans Wilderness, national forests and more. Colorado Parks & Wildlife has provided funding for the group to inventory existing trails, solicit input from the public, identify multi-use alignments to provide increased recreation and habitat protection, and complete a maintenance and management plan for the area. Once the plan is complete, it will be up to various organizations and government officials to find funding
SEE BLUE SKY, P6
SEE OUTSIDE 285, P14
The Oklahoma-based Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes have petitioned to rename Mount Evans, seen here Friday morning from Fire Tower Trail along Highway 103, to Mount Blue Sky. PHOTO BY CORINNE WESTEMAN
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes file petition to rename Mount Evans BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The Oklahoma-based Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, along with conservation nonprofit The Wilderness Society, have asked that Mount
Evans be renamed Mount Blue Sky. The tribes filed the official petition with the U.S. Board of Geographic Names on Nov. 30, the day after the 156th anniversary of the Sand Creek Massacre. Colorado’s then-territorial Governor John Evans is believed to have authorized the U.S. Army’s attack on the Cheyenne and Arapaho people. The exact number of fatalities is unknown with some estimates as high as 500.
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