What is Secretary’s Order 3404 and the DOI Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force?

Secretary's Order (S.O.) 3404, issued on November 19, 2021, declared the word “sq___” to be derogatory and directed a series of Department of the Interior (DOI) actions to replace the word in all geographic names used by the federal government.    

S.O. 3404 established a 13-member Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force to reconcile the derogatory geographic feature names. It included representatives from the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, National Park Service, Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation, and U.S. Geological Survey. The Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service was also a member.