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Interior Secretary Officially Renames Mount McKinley As Denali

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Mount McKinley was renamed Denali on Sunday by Interior Secretary Jewell

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Sunday directed that Mount McKinley in Denali National Park be known as Denali going forward/NPS

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Sunday directed that Mount McKinley be officially renamed "Denali," the traditional Koyukon Athabascan name of the peak embraced by Denali National Park and Preserve.

Secretary Jewell gained the support of President Obama to issue a Secretarial Order that officially changes the name. Secretary Jewell is granted the authority to make such changes in certain cases per the 1947 federal law that provides for the standardization of geographic names through the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, according to a release Sunday from the Interior Department.

"The name change will be reflected in all federal usage," the release added.

“This name change recognizes the sacred status of Denali to many Alaska Natives,” Secretary Jewell said. “The name Denali has been official for use by the State of Alaska since 1975, but even more importantly, the mountain has been known as Denali for generations. With our own sense of reverence for this place, we are officially renaming the mountain Denali in recognition of the traditions of Alaska Natives and the strong support of the people of Alaska.”

Since 1987 and until Sunday, the official name of the mountain in federal publications has been Mount McKinley. The mountain retained the federally authorized name Mount McKinley, even as the name of the national park was changed in 1980 from Mount McKinley National Park into the new (and larger) area named Denali National Park and Preserve under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.

“Recognizing the long history and discussion about the name of this iconic American mountain, the time has come to restore the traditional Alaska Native title Denali for this landmark, which holds great significance to the people of Alaska,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.

The mountain's McKinley name dates to 1896, when a prospector emerged from exploring the mountains of central Alaska and received news that William McKinley had been nominated as a candidate for President of the United States. In a show of support, the prospector declared the tallest peak of the Alaska Range as Mount McKinley – and the name stuck.

For centuries, the mountain that rises more than 20,000 feet above sea level, the tallest on the North American continent, had been known by another name – Denali. McKinley, our 25th president, was tragically assassinated just six months into his second term, but he never set foot in Alaska.

On March 11, 1975, Governor Jay S. Hammond of Alaska requested that the Secretary of the Interior direct the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to officially designate Mount McKinley in Alaska as Denali. This proposal, never withdrawn, is based on a resolution that was passed by the Alaska State Legislature.

Since 1977, the Board, in deference to potential congressional action, had not resolved the proposal for changing the federally recognized geographic name from Mount McKinley to Denali. Secretary Jewell’s action today finally resolves the March 1975 petition by former Governor Hammond.

Denali National Park & Preserve, where the mountain is located, was established in 1917 and annually sees more than 500,000 visitors to the 6 million acres that now make up the park and preserve. About 1,200 mountaineers attempt to summit the mountain each year; typically about half are successful.

Comments

Or, as the comments in Alaska are going, "They are going to call Denali Denali."


"The official shift to Denali will have perhaps the biggest impact at Denali National Park and Preserve, which has scattered the name of its iconic peak throughout the park.

Park spokeswoman Kathleen Kelly said the park buys its brochures in bulk quantities of 500,000, which means a lot of incorrect mountain names are lingering in its literature.

John Quinley, the Alaska region spokesman for the National Park Service, said the name change didn't come with a fiscal note for updating publications, signs and other items. He said any money spent to change "Mount McKinley" to "Denali" will come from within the existing budget."

http://www.newsminer.com/business/mckinley-themed-businesses-look-ahead-...


Why stop there? Why not rename Air Force One Denali? Translation: Heap Big Burner of Fossil Fuels on Way to Discuss Global Warming. Does no one else see the irony, or is everyone just afraid to seem not PC?


Great point, Dr Runte.  The presidential road show seems more than a bit hollow coming on the heels of approving arctic drilling.  I don't think the American public is concerned with political correctness as much as celebrity:  Obama gets to play on a National Park glacier with Bear Grylls!   How's that for 'optics' obscurring irony?
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article330537... 


The United States Board of Geographic Names did not avoid action in 1977 in deference to or in expectation of Congressional action. With the request of the Republican Governor of Alaska and the openness to the idea by the Democratic Secretary of the Interior Cecil Andrus, prior to the meeting of the Board it was understood the Board would support the change.  After all, the McKinley name was specious, and Alaskans resented such signs of colonialism and absentee landlordism (most federal agencies at the time including the National Park Service governed from Seattle).

The reason the Board did not act is because Interior Appropriations Subcommittee power Congressman Ralph Regula personally moved into and through the room with a petition in his pocket he had required all the other Ohio Members of the House of Representatives to sign, opposing the name change.  Previously, Congressman John Seiberling, chair of the Alaska Lands subcommittee, had expressed an openness to the name change as well.  All that changed with Mr. Regula.

Remember, that the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee funds the Board of Geographic Names.

Everyone in the room except Mr. Regula were stunned to hear the Board say they would not vote on the issue that day, but consider new developments.  It was never at that time on anyone's agenda to include the issue for legislative Action.  Jimmy Carter had just submitted to Congress his revision of the original Richard Nixon Alaska Lands proposal.  Rep. Mo Udall had submitted his HR 39 already, and it also had no provision for renaming the mountain or leaving it alone. 

Later, Mr. Regula included Appropriations Committee language preventing the Board from acting on a name change, and later came up with the rationale that the rationalization given -- but no one ever believed it was more than a rationalization -- was because of pending congressional action.

When the Alaska Lands Act finally came to the floor of the Congress in 1980, and the current compromised was worked out in a rump committee, especially considering that Mr. Seiberling who had written most of the bill was already nailed down, it was clear that no one wanted to lose Mr. Regula's vote and those who's vote he could influence.  It was one of those familiar cases where Congress could have rolled Mr. Regula if it cared enough, but the naming of the mountain was a small thing compared to the large issues at stake, so it was not worth rocking the boat.

The lesson is inaction is easier than action, regardless of the injustice of naming the mountain after a mediocrity who could not have care less about Alaska or the wilderness.  His interest in Alaska was only in keeping the currency expensive, keep gold the standard, and keep tarifs high and trade stiffled.


PS;  Speaking of specious:

Dr. Runte, once again another inexplicable bit of cynicism and sarcasm, which i had been told is the weapon of the weak.

Alaskans have wanted to get rid of this vestage of colonialism for a long time.  The National Park Service believes in naming its primary resources for what they are, and naming parks for what they are. 

I know you have implied repeatedly if something was that way in 1967 for your moment of epiphany on parks you want nothing to change, no new thinking, no improvements.  But would you not agree it is truly infantile to suggest renaming Air Force One is comparable, and not even particularly witty.  Do you really think the President of the United States should never travel to make a policy point?  Or is it your idea that only on issues involving global warming or the environment, the President should not show up? 

 


No, anonymity is the weapon of the weak, D-2. Who in God's name are you? Sign your name, and don't forget to sign it once on a check to Kurt. He needs money to keep this website going.

Colonialism? Give me a break. The American people bought Alaska, as they bought and paid for the entire West. I am sick and tired of that argument, too. We are entitled to our public lands, wherever they may be. Those living in the Far North are not superior beings.

As for the president traveling "to make a policy point," fine. My point is that using Air Force One is hypocrisy if the message is global warming. Usually, a second, comparable plane follows right behind. While my president tells me to conserve fossil fuels, adopt solar, and look the other way at raptor kills, he goes jetting off to Alaska. Does he really need to in order to make this point?

No. Meanwhile, you will pardon me for being just a little bit senstive, having just returned from another drive-by of the Ivanpah Thermal Solar Power Plant. If that is what you mean by "improving" the environment, again, I think I will pass. As for Denali, I happen to support the name change. I only wish that Jimmy Carter had done it first.


Al...

 

What is the Runte-approved method of Presidential travel? Please pass your suggestion on through the Us Secret Service, who have a lot more say in this matter than President Obama himself.

 

Personally, given that you agree with the name change, which is the only topic of the original post, seems to me everything else is a bit of horsefeathers.


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