College Professor Wants To Name Mountain Peak After John Denver

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J.P. McDaniel wants to name the eastern peak of Mount Sopris after the singer and she has a petition’s worth of people to back her up.

McDaniel, who has a PhD in ecopsychology, has started a campaign to name the eastern peak of Mount Sopris in Colorado the “John Denver Peak” after the famous singer. Denver, whose song “Rocky Mountain High” was named one of two of Colorado’s state songs in 2007, was also an active conservationist in the region. In the ’70s, Denver bought a 1000-acre expanse of land for conservation purposes.

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“John Denver protected that land and donated it for public benefit. Naming the peak would honor his love for nature and his involvement with environmental preservation,” McDaniel told the Aspen Times. Her campaign was started about two years ago and she now has more than 1000 signatures on a petition, which she plans to send to the  U.S. Board of Geographic Names soon.

Of course, there’s also a Facebook group opposing the idea, as well as some early opposition from board members who feel that naming the peak “detracts from the wilderness experience that future generations will have.”

But, man, that song is so good.

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