The effort has gained momentum in recent weeks as thousands of people signed a petition to recognize the singer with a mountain near where he wrote his hit “Rocky Mountain High.” Denver is a revered figure in Colorado – so much that it made “Rocky Mountain High” an official state song.

But the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names says there are problems with the proposal. Board executive secretary Lou Yost says renaming the peak for Denver could be forbidden under a federal wilderness law.

The peak in question is on Mount Sopris, named after a man who led a prospecting expedition near the mountain.