Could another prominent Front Range peak get a new name? Not yet.
The Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board on Jan. 27 declined to advance a proposal to change the name of Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park to Beaver Mountain.
The proposal landed more than two years after the federal government approved the state’s request to change Mount Evans to Mount Blue Sky after advocates spent years pointing out former Colorado Gov. John Evans’ role in the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre.
The 15-member board in charge of reviewing geographic name changes in Colorado last week swiftly declined to approve a proposal to remove Stephen Harriman Long’s name from the 14,256-foot peak first named by the federal U.S. Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The Longs Peak name shift was one of 97 naming proposals filed last year by Colorado attorney D’Arcy Winston Straub with the U.S. Bureau on Geographic Names.
“Stephen Long does represent an aspect of American history that some may find controversial,” reads Straub’s submission to the federal naming board. “The name of the peak should reflect this astonishing rock formation as opposed to a historical figure that will have less significance with each passing generation and is associated with a controversial aspect of history.”
Straub, in an interview with The Colorado Sun, said he has climbed all the 14ers and more than 500 of the state’s 13ers and all his suggestions are thematic.
The Colorado naming board also declined to introduce his proposal to name several subpeaks around the Mount of the Holy Cross, for example, after the seven deadly sins, with Lust, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Gluttony, Pride and Greed peaks in the Holy Cross Wilderness Area.
Straub said his overarching purpose is to shift the practice of naming geographic features after people. In his filings with the federal naming board, he said naming mountains after men “is shortsighted, perilous and captures unsavory aspects of human nature.”
The names of mountains “should embrace aspects of nature enjoyable by all or themes that capture the human experience and can be appreciated by future generations,” Straub wrote in his submission to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
The Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board declined to begin reviewing any of Straub’s proposals at its quarterly meeting on Jan. 27.
The board’s recommendation now goes to the governor who will forward the state’s position to the federal naming board, which has final say on geographic name changes.
Many of Straub’s proposals, which were forwarded to the Colorado naming advisory board by the federal board, have drawn local opposition.
Longs Peaks is in Boulder County and county commissioners last year sent a letter to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names saying the name change “is not a priority.” The National Park Service also has voiced opposition to the name change, pointing to federal rules that say shifts from longstanding public usage require “a compelling reason to do so” and “in this instance, the NPS could find no compelling reason to change the existing names.”
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names in February 2025 published a list of geographic names it planned to review that included the shift from Longs Peak to Beaver Mountain and nearby Mount Meeker to Paddle Tail Mountain.
Straub proposed the beaver as a theme for the mountain, pointing to author James Michener’s “Centennial” novel that describes the eastern flank of Longs Peak as a “stone beaver” climbing to the summit. (“This peak should have been called Beaver Mountain, but unfortunately, men are sometimes not imaginative,” Michener wrote in his 1974 novel.)
Straub, in his proposal, said that while Maj. Long was not connected to atrocities, his exploration and settling of Western lands could be viewed as “conquering and oppression.” (The Board on Geographic Names last year changed the name of North America’s tallest peak to Mount McKinley, from Denali, per President Donald Trump’s order. The name change has irked Alaskans who designated the peak as Denali in 1975.)
Eagle County commissioners last year sent a note to the Board on Geographic Names saying the board “strongly opposes” Straub’s name change of the Holy Cross Wilderness peaks.
“The ‘Seven Sins’ theme appears arbitrary and lacks any demonstrable connection to the history, geography or culture of the Holy Cross Wilderness or Eagle County,” reads the Eagle County commissioners’ letter to the federal board. “There is no evidence suggesting the theme arises from local tradition or need. Furthermore, imposing a theme with specific religious or moral connotations onto public wilderness features seems inappropriate for a landscape intended for diverse public enjoyment and reflection on nature.”
The White River National Forest also submitted comments to the federal naming board opposing the name changes for peaks around Mount of the Holy Cross.
The state board also declined to introduce Straub’s suggestions to change the name of the fourteener Handies Peak in the San Juans near Lake City to Rainbow Peak and then name a dozen subpeaks around the 14er around a theme of light, with names like ROYGBIV, White Light, Particle, Wave, Photon, Quantum Mechanics, Refraction, Reflection, Diffraction, Sun Dog and Wildfire peaks.
Commissioners in San Juan and Hinsdale counties also are opposed to Straub’s name change proposals for peaks in their counties.
Straub said he is not taking an active role advocating for his suggestions. He said he’s moving from an overarching position that “it’s time to introduce a new paradigm for naming mountains.”
He also wondered if there should be a change in how naming proposals are brought forward to the Board on Geographic Names “instead of everyone out there dreaming up themes and flooding the BGN.”
“I think this should be a congressional issue. Maybe there should be something more formal?” he said.
The Colorado Naming Advisory Board, which unanimously voted not to forward Straub’s three renaming proposals, supports Colorado residents suggesting name changes. The board also leans heavily on local involvement in those name changes.
The proposals from Straub landed as the Colorado Geographic Naming Advisory Board overhauls its processes for consideration of proposals. New additions to the board’s processes require that proponents of name changes document their work to seek support from local governments, landowners and stakeholders.
“If this individual wishes to proceed, I hope there is more local coordination done,” Rich Cimino, a naming board member and former Grand County commissioner, said during the quarterly meeting. “Not moving forward at this time does not deny a future resubmission with some more local support. The opposition from locals, it definitely carries great weight with this board.”
