Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, speaks Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, on the floor of the Alaska Senate. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Senate voted without opposition Friday to approve a resolution asking President Donald Trump and various officials to keep the name of North America’s tallest mountain as Denali.
The Senate’s 19-0 vote, with Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, excused absent, followed a 31-8 vote in the state House.
In part, House Joint Resolution 4 states, “the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the President of the United States, the United States Secretary of the Interior, and the United States Board on Geographic Names to maintain Denali as the name for the tallest mountain in North America and that action to rename the mountain not be taken.”
The resolution was introduced by Rep. Maxine Dibert, D-Fairbanks, soon after Trump signed an executive order declaring that Denali should be named McKinley, its official federal name between 1896 and 2015.
The Alaska Legislature had requested since 1975 that the mountain be named Denali, which is derived from the language of Interior Alaska’s Koyukon Indigenous residents and translates as “the high one.”
As a resolution, HJR 4 does not require approval by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and will be sent to the president, vice president and the state’s congressional delegation.
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