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Resident asks Larimer County commissioners to support renaming Blue Mountain to “Sleeping Mammoth Mountain”
Summary
A Larimer County resident urged the Board of County Commissioners to endorse an application to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename Blue Mountain after mammoth remains recovered near Chimney Hollow Reservoir.
Mike Walsh, a Larimer County resident, asked the Board of County Commissioners on March 11 to support renaming Blue Mountain as “Sleeping Mammoth Mountain,” citing mammoth remains unearthed during geotechnical work for the Chimney Hollow Reservoir project.
Walsh told the board, “I propose renaming it to Sleeping Mammoth Mountain, a name that connects our future to our remarkable past.” He said geotechnical investigations in February 2017 uncovered partial skeletons of an adult and a juvenile mammoth at the mountain’s base and argued the mountain’s silhouette evokes a reclining mammoth.
The request would require a formal application to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and additional local public engagement, Walsh said. He described the Blue Mountain Conservation Area and named Harper Conservation Easement and the Ramsey Shockey Open Space/Blue Mountain Bison Ranch conservation easement as nearby protected lands. He also said the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District has acquired about 1,600 acres for the Chimney Hollow Reservoir and expects to open more public access and recreation in roughly three to five years.
Commissioners acknowledged the idea and told Walsh they would look into next steps. Jody Shattuck McNally, commissioner, thanked Walsh for bringing the proposal forward and for his research, saying she appreciated the outreach. Kristen Stevens, chair of the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners, told Walsh, “We will take a look at that for sure.”
One commissioner suggested, without attribution in the record, that Walsh consult county natural resources staff, the parks advisory board and the open lands advisory board and noted that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names process can be “a rather laborious, not very timely process,” with an estimated duration of about three years.
Walsh urged a formal county endorsement and public engagement to support a potential application. He said the CSU Hydraulic Laboratory graduate students have endorsed the idea.
The items Walsh raised were taken as public comment; the board did not make or record any formal decision on the renaming request at the March 11 administrative matters meeting.
Looking ahead, Walsh asked the board to consider endorsing a formal application to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names and to coordinate local outreach if the board decides to pursue the proposal.
