Government Won't Allow U.S. Flag To Fly Over Mountain
Patriotic Sept. 11 Memorial May Have To Go
POSTED: 9:32 a.m. MDT September 4, 2003
UPDATED: 10:33 a.m. MDT September 4, 2003
If the U.S. Forest Service has its way, Old Glory won't be waving much longer from the top of a mountain peak in Summit County.
The U.S. flag (pictured, left) flying on the top Peak 1 west of Frisco, Colo., in Summit County may be removed, even though the people who put it there intended it to commemorate those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Kurt Kizer, who placed the original flag, wanted to replace it before the second Sept. 11 anniversary but learned the U.S. Forest Service would not allow it. A Forest Service spokesman said the flag on top of the 12.933-foot mountain is in violation of several USFS regulations concerning memorials and permanent structures in the backcountry.
"Granted, it's public land and everybody owns it ... (but) we have rules and regulations that all of us have to abide by," Paul Semmer, acting district ranger for the Dillon Ranger District, told the Summit Daily News. "It's a touchy issue."
He said that people want to build memorials for lost loved ones or pets, but if the Forest Service granted such requests, it would change the character of the backcountry.
Semmer said the Forest Service considers the unauthorized flag "trespassing" and may notify law enforcement.
The U.S. flag (pictured, left) flying on the top Peak 1 west of Frisco, Colo., in Summit County may be removed, even though the people who put it there intended it to commemorate those who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Kurt Kizer, who placed the original flag, wanted to replace it before the second Sept. 11 anniversary but learned the U.S. Forest Service would not allow it. A Forest Service spokesman said the flag on top of the 12.933-foot mountain is in violation of several USFS regulations concerning memorials and permanent structures in the backcountry.
"Granted, it's public land and everybody owns it ... (but) we have rules and regulations that all of us have to abide by," Paul Semmer, acting district ranger for the Dillon Ranger District, told the Summit Daily News. "It's a touchy issue."
He said that people want to build memorials for lost loved ones or pets, but if the Forest Service granted such requests, it would change the character of the backcountry.
Semmer said the Forest Service considers the unauthorized flag "trespassing" and may notify law enforcement.
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