Maps and Mapping

Radiometric resolution relates to how much information is perceived by a satellite’s sensor. While the human eye detects color, Landsat sensors measure energy reflecting or emitted from the earth and relay that information as an image to users in varying degrees of greyscale. The higher the radiometric resolution, the more shades of grey the user sees. Landsat data are characterized by digital...

The Task Force concluded its duties and responsibilities by recommending replacement names to the BGN, upon which the BGN rendered a decision. The decisions of the BGN are immediately official for federal use. However, if a Tribe, a member of the public, or another interested party believes the replacement name is not the most appropriate choice, they are welcome to propose that it be changed to a...

The Board on Geographic Names (BGN) does not declare a word derogatory or offensive, with the one exception being the 1974 case when the pejorative word for Japanese was declared derogatory and mandated to be changed to “Japanese” in all occurrences. The BGN does, however, consider renaming any feature with a name considered derogatory or offensive on a case-by-case basis when a proposal is...

Secretary's Order 3404 outlines the process. The Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force reviewed all candidate names, including those generated by the U.S. Geological Survey, received by the Board on Geographic Names as part of a formal proposal prior to 1/24/22, or contributed through the public comment period or Tribal Consultations. As outlined in Secretary's Order 3404, "The task force will...

The Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force opened a written public comment period and DOI offered Tribal Consultation to all federally recognized tribes. Both of these opportunities were announced in the Federal Register on Feb. 23, 2022 [link to Federal Register Notice for Consultation, link to Federal Register Notice for public comment]. In addition, the Task Force issued a letter through the...

Each state has a state naming authority responsible for management of geographic names within its boundaries. Several of these naming authorities communicated throughout their states to generate input to the process, or directly submitted recommendations to the Task Force through the public comment period.

All name changes will be reflected in the Domestic Names Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the authoritative federal database. Federal agencies rely on the GNIS for the publication of map products or other services. Often, private mapping companies (e.g., Google Maps, Apple Maps, Esri) use GNIS but they are not required to do so.

All name changes will be reflected in the Domestic Names Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), the authoritative federal database. Federal agencies rely on the GNIS for the publication of map products or other services. A state may maintain its own names database or have other policies that govern state map production, but typically, they use the names from GNIS for consistency.

Secretary's Order 3404 and the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force have purview over names of approximately 650 geographic features with the term sq___ located on federal, state, Tribal, county, local or private land. These are primarily natural features (i.e., lakes, mountains, etc.), as well as canals, channels, and reservoirs in the United States and its territories and outlying areas. While...

Secretary's Order 3404 and the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force considered only the sq___ derogatory word in its scope. Secretary’s Order 3405 creates a Federal Advisory Committee for DOI to formally receive input from interested parties regarding additional derogatory terms, derogatory terms applied to federal land units, and the process for derogatory name reconciliation.

The Board on Geographic Names’ (BGN) Principles, Policies, and Procedures document contains the current Derogatory and Offensive Names Policy. Prior to Secretary's Order 3404, only two other words had been declared derogatory by the BGN in all occurrences: In 1963, the BGN, at the request of the Secretary of the Interior, mandated that the pejorative form of the word “Negro” be eliminated from all...

Any renaming activity pursuant to Secretary's Order 3404 only applies to federal use. The names of cultural or man-made features such as roads, streets, shopping centers, churches, schools, hospitals and airports are not under the Board on Geographic Names’ purview, with very limited exceptions.