Denali goes to the U.S. Board
The Alaska State Board on Geographic Names, acting under state authority, made the name Denali official for state use in 1975. Soon afterward, Alaska Governor Jay S. Hammond petitioned the Secretary of the Interior for federal recognition of the name by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN).
The BGN, in accordance with its customary practice, did not act immediately on Hammond’s request in order to hear the views of many other interested parties. Due to continued reaction to the name-change proposal by the public and elected officials, the BGN took no decisive action until its July 1977 meeting, when it was agreed that public meetings should be held. The first meeting was held in October at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.; the second in November in Anchorage, Alaska.
An impasse with Congress and the Board
The BGN then indicated that it expected to render a decision on the name change proposal at its December 1977 meeting. Prior to that meeting, however, the Ohio congressional delegation introduced a Joint Resolution in Congress, which if passed, would “retain the name Mount McKinley in perpetuity.” As a result, the BGN deferred any action on the issue at that December meeting — and for many years afterward as the Ohio delegation to Congress continued to introduce legislation to keep the name Mount McKinley.
In order to distance itself from political considerations, the BGN adopted a policy in the 1960s that it would not consider geographic name issues that were the subject of pending congressional legislation, a policy later endorsed by the Secretary of the Interior in 1981. The consequence of this well-intentioned policy was that the repeated introduction of legislation by the Ohio delegation (1977-2015) had the effect of indefinitely deferring any further consideration of the McKinley-Denali controversy by the BGN.
“The 38-year impasse between the BGN and Congress was unique in BGN history, a situation that was never anticipated when the policy was adopted,” said Doug Caldwell, Chair, U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
Meanwhile, the people of Alaska continued to show their support for the name Denali. Resolutions in support of BGN recognition of the name for federal use were adopted by the Alaska State Board on Geographic Names in 2001 and 2009. The Alaska delegation to Congress offered several bills in support of the name; the most recent was entered by Senator Lisa Murkowski in January 2015. As recently as August 12, 2015, the Denali Borough Assembly (the local government that encompasses the mountain) adopted a resolution to support “federal designation for the tallest North American peak as Denali.”
Enter the Secretary
Under the 1947 law that empowers the BGN to standardize and approve geographic names, the Secretary of the Interior has equal (“conjoint” is the term used in the law) authority with the BGN. In fact, under the law, the Secretary is responsible for overseeing the BGN’s actions. The law explicitly states that action “may be taken by the Secretary in any matter wherein the Board does not act within a reasonable time.”
Forty years have passed since former Alaska Governor Hammond first petitioned for a name change in 1975. In view of the expressed will of the people of Alaska and in keeping with the principles of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Secretary Jewell has now taken action to rename Mount McKinley as Denali under the authority granted to her office by the law.
