By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
The federal Board of Geographic Names has rejected a proposal to name a summit in Denali National Park and Preserve after a longtime mining pioneer.
Michele Stevens, daughter of Carola June Young, proposed naming the peak “Mount Carola” to honor her mother, and the proposal had been supported by the Talkeetna Historical Society, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Planning Commission, the Alaska Miners Association and the Alaska Historical Commission, which voted 6-1 to support the nomination.
But on June 12, the domestic names committee of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names rejected the nomination. The board, along with the secretary of the interior, is responsible for maintaining geographic names in the country.
Wendy Sailors, community engagement manager for Alaska State Parks, said that the federal board rejected the Mount Carola name because it violated the policy for names in wilderness areas.
That policy states in part that the board “will not approve proposed names for unnamed features within wilderness areas, including unpublished names in local use, unless an overriding need can be demonstrated by the proponent.”
The unnamed mountain that was to be christened Mount Carola is located just inside the southern border of Denali National Park, inside an “eligible wilderness” area.
That area was added to the original McKinley National Park in 1980 as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
Eligible wilderness is not designated wilderness but is managed to preserve its wilderness character, according to National Park Service policy.
Sailors said that the National Park Service did not support the Mount Carola name, and its opposition was shared with federal board members before the final vote.
It is somewhat unusual for an Alaska name nomination to be rejected at the federal level because names must be vetted by the Alaska Historical Commission beforehand.
In December, the federal board approved the names for Arkose Peak and Souvenir Peak in the Hatcher Pass Planning Area. Those names had been suggested by local skiers and mountaineers to clear up a discrepancy between local use and what was actually listed on the map.
On July 10, the board is expected to take up the renaming of “Nazi Creek” and “Nip Hill” in the Aleutians. Those landmarks, on the southeastern side of Little Kiska Island, were federally named in World War II and are expected to be renamed using local Unangax terminology.
Both are located within the Aleutian Islands Wilderness of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.
