the alaska board of geographic names changed the name of mount mckinley to denali on august 30, 2015.
when did the alaska board of geographic names change the name of mount mckinley to denali?
august 30, 2015
the mountain was always commonly referred to by its koyukon athabaskan name "denali", especially by alaskans, mountaineers, and alaska natives. in 1975, the alaska board of geographic names changed the name of the mountain to denali, and, at governor jay hammond's behest, the alaska legislature officially requested that the united states board on geographic names (bgn), the federal governmental body responsible for naming geographic features in the united states, change the name of the mountain from "mount mckinley" to "mount denali".
denali–mount mckinley naming dispute
the name of mount mckinley national park was subject to local criticism from the beginning of the park. the word denali means "the high one" in the native athabaskan language and refers to the mountain itself. the mountain was named after newly elected us president william mckinley in 1897 by local prospector william a. dickey. the united states government formally adopted the name mount mckinley after president wilson signed the bill creating mount mckinley national park into effect in 1917. in 1980, mount mckinley national park was combined with denali national monument, and the alaska national interest lands conservation act named the combined unit the denali national park and preserve. at that time the alaska state board of geographic names changed the name of the mountain to denali. however, the u.s. board on geographic names did not recognize the change and continued to denote the official name as mount mckinley. this situation lasted until aug. 30, 2015, when president barack obama directed secretary of the interior sally jewell to rename the mountain to denali, using statutory authority to act on requests when the board of geographic names does not do so in a "reasonable" time period.
denali national park and preserve