Sierra Club, City OK Pikes Peak Deal

The environmental battle over preservation of “America’s Mountain” could soon be over. The Sierra Club and Colorado Springs, Colo., city negotiators have reached a tentative settlement to end a lawsuit over Pikes Peak Highway, a mostly gravel-covered road that 300,000 sightseers use each year to reach the summit of the 14,110-foot mountain. Details will not be released until the City Council reviews and votes on the deal Monday. But Mike Freeman, an attorney for the firm that represents the Sierra Club, said he was pleased with the deal. The nature advocacy group has said the city has been ignoring its own studies and a Forest Service recommendation that the road be paved to reduce environmental damage.