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~ ~ III IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII ~.. ~~ t 8-A Colorado 9Rringa Sun, Friday, Oetobar 29, 1979 T~~e Sun's View Offer o.n `scar on mountain' i~: first I'~reakthrough there ASTLE CONCRETE's offer to donate' the Cmining site known generally as "the scar on the'•mountaln" to the Colorado Department of Wildlife represents the first breakthrough in the conflict that has raged for years between strict environmental protection groups and the com- pany. It is no final solution, as presently pres- ented, but offers hope that a plan satisfactory to both business interests and the community in general can be devised. •The scar is visible from a great distance, as well as from most parts of the Colorado Springs area. Travelers arriving here by airline on days in which the winds require landing approaches from the south to the municipal airport often ask the hostess about the highly visible scars on the Fropt Range, which can be seen clearly as the airr;raft banks about 50 miles east of Colorado Springs. When told that the huge brown spots are quarries, they often react in indignation. That reaction is shared by many residents, newcomers as well as oldtimers. But the pro- posals to deal with the unsightly blot on the beauty of the Pikes Peak area have ranged from Impractical plans to set shrubs and trees on the whole site to adamant insistence that the scars are'ihe price of progress. ~T,hat There is a problem should be evident to all~.•That it can be dealt with in a reasonable way, but, over a period of years, is also plain. But wFiatever plan is eventually adopted -and there must be a plan adopted -certain facts must be faced. For one, there is no way to restore the original contours of the mountain, or to make it absolutely green all over at alt seasons.lnstead, a plan is needed which can restore ihe.ap- pearance of natural contours, even though man's activities have altered the landscape ir- revocably. In an area in which natural outcrop- pings of rock are among the scen(c attractions, as at the nearby Garden of the Gods and at Manitou Springs, there should be no outcry if some of the rock remains exposed to view. Much of the present contour, however, can be made green again. Another fact is that housing on the site, suggested as an alternate development, would be as bad as The scar. There is no way such housing could become as much a part of the landscape as the houses high above Broadmoor are today. Whether the site should be a protected refuge for the wild sheep now in its upper reaches, as suggested by a Castle Concrete spokesman, or should be available to the public under Wildlife Department controls, is a matter to be resolved. In any Case, a variety of wildlife would soon occupy the site. Now that some progress is underway, the time has come for reasonable discussions and planning. The end of the scar on the mountain can now be foreseen.