Mount Denali: A Sacred Name Rightfully Restored

****

Julie Hirschfeld Davis: Mount McKinley Will Again Be Called Denali

President Obama announced on Sunday that Mount McKinley was being renamed Denali, restoring an Alaska Native name with deep cultural significance to the tallest mountain in North America. The move came on the eve of Mr. Obama’s trip to Alaska, where he will spend three days promoting aggressive action to combat climate change, and is part of a series of steps meant to address the concerns of Alaska Native tribes. The central Alaska mountain has been called Mount McKinley for more than a century. In announcing that Sally Jewell, the secretary of the interior, had used her power to rename it,

Mr. Obama was paying tribute to the state’s Native population, which has referred to the site for generations as Denali, meaning “the high one” or “the great one.” The peak, at more than 20,000 feet, plays a central role in the creation story of the Koyukon Athabascans, a group that has lived in Alaska for thousands of years. The White House also announced on Sunday that Mr. Obama was expanding government support for programs to allow Alaska Natives to be more involved in developing their own natural resources, including an initiative to include them in the management of Chinook salmon fisheries, a youth exchange council focusing on promoting “an Arctic way of life,” and a program allowing them to serve as advisers to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

More here

****

https://twitter.com/dianewitt/status/638103359812075520

Generations of Alaskans, Alaska Natives hold Denali sacred. Time to honor its original name.SJ http://t.co/eD80BNJKTg pic.twitter.com/mS3kFiLoST

— Sally Jewell (@SecretaryJewell) August 30, 2015

****

Mount McKinley, America's highest mountain, to be restored to original name Denali http://t.co/HSrKImbSf1 pic.twitter.com/DheMdFm42z

— Telegraph Breaking News (@TelegraphNews) August 30, 2015

https://twitter.com/justinsreedy/status/638108268032716800

****

Obama to rename nation’s highest mountain: http://t.co/5LegtBbjPh pic.twitter.com/poXGtDMo9Q

— The Hill (@thehill) August 30, 2015

President Obama renames Mount McKinley 'Denali' http://t.co/JTNDhnFGaZ

— TIME (@TIME) August 30, 2015

****

@TIME correction: Denali was and is the Mountains name, the US Gov just tried to whitewash it with an ex presidents namesake l...

— Ivan Oleander 🦄 (@AnotherFlower) August 30, 2015

A name change that's been long overdue. #Denali @DenaliNPS https://t.co/ZGZ16qeNVR

— AK Cuisine (@AKCuisine) August 30, 2015

****

https://twitter.com/Syndeess/status/638108185379762176

Wonderful news, on the eve of President Obama's trip to Alaska, @Interior announces Denali rename: https://t.co/vmqUnnM92C

— Sydney Lienemann (@SydneyHKaufman) August 30, 2015

****

Mt McKinley isn't being "renamed" Denali... it is Denali. It's always been Denali. Locals, natives, climbers-- Denali. Good fix today.

— Shelby Edwards (@STEWest) August 30, 2015

Mt. Denali will be renamed because that is the name given by native Alaskan's. So it is actually going back to original name.

— Middle Class Moderate (@midclassmoderat) August 30, 2015

****

Respecting Alaska Natives: Obama To Rename Mount Mickinley As Mount Denali http://t.co/uQpf17l5WS

— Crystal EchoHawk (@CrystalEchoHawk) August 30, 2015

Denali is a much cooler name anyway http://t.co/XN3ttjVT9m

— Joelle Gamble (@joelle_gamble) August 30, 2015

****

#Denali restored to its original/cultural name. Thank you, @POTUS ! http://t.co/TnLvZYX28i

— Susan Pesznecker (@SuePesznecker) August 30, 2015

Out of the Mountain of Despair….

Tomorrow:

3:05 EDT President Obama delivers remarks at the ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington

nevada to new mexico

****

…. greeted by Clark County Commission, Nev. Chair Susan Brager

President Obama walks across the tarmac to greet well-wishers upon arrival at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas

A Secret Service agent is seen at Sempra U.S. Gas & Power’s Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility before a speech by President Obama

…. with Jeffrey Martin, CEO, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power

…. speaking at Sempra U.S. Gas & Power’s Copper Mountain Solar 1 facility in Boulder City, Nevada

…. greeting audience members after speaking at the Copper Mountain Solar Project

****

…. arriving with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar at Roswell International Airport

…. greeted by New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez

…. on his way to deliver remarks on energy independence at Maljamar Cooperative Association Unit in New Mexico

west wing week: ‘magic mountains and volcanoes’ (july 1, 2011)

fort drum

President Barack Obama speaks to soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division, many of whom have just returned from Afghanistan, June 23, 2011, in Fort Drum, N.Y.

‘obama administration cracks down on mountaintop mining’

Washington Post: The Environmental Protection Agency took the unusual step of revoking a permit Thursday for the country’s largest surface mine, a setback for the controversial practice of “mountaintop removal” that helps produce 10 percent of the nation’s coal.

The 2,300-acre operation at the Mingo Logan Coal Co.’s Spruce No. 1 coal mine in West Virginia has been mired in litigation since 1998.

The EPA’s decision could affect dozens of other mining projects across Appalachia, where firms have been blasting the peaks off mountains for years to reach coal seams and then depositing the remaining rubble in surrounding valleys. While the federal government issued permits for hundreds of these activities under the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, the EPA adopted new environmental guidelines in April and is now reviewing 33 other pending permits.

The EPA’s assistant administrator for water, Peter S. Silva, said the Spruce No. 1 coal mine … “would use destructive and unsustainable mining practices that jeopardize the health of Appalachian communities and clean water on which they depend.”

…The EPA used its authority under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act – which it has used only 12 other times in its history – to argue that the subsequent valley fills would harm the area’s water quality, habitat and wildlife.

Full article here

mountain view

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

… on Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, Maine, July 16, 2010

if you go down to the woods today….

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama go for a walk on Blue Ridge mountain track near Asheville, North Carolina, on April 23, 2010