Minutes of the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names

ARIZONA STATE BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC AND HISTORIC NAMES

September 25, 2017 MINUTES

The Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names (ASBGHN) met at 10:00 a.m. in the Second Floor Historic Supreme Court Room, Suite 200 of the Arizona State Capitol Building, 1700 W. Washington Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85007.

ATTENDANCE Members

Lisa A. Atkins Arizona State Land Department Keiron Bailey University of Arizona Chuck Coughlin Public Member William Faber Arizona Department of Transportation Phil Hanson – Vice Chair Arizona Historical Society Arthur Pearce Public Member Dennis Preisler – Chair Arizona State Archives

Board Support Edwin Slade Arizona Attorney General’s Office Ryan Ehrfurth Arizona State Research Library Melissa Swain Arizona State Research Library/Archives

ABSENT Pete Martinez U.S. Forest Service

1 1) Call to order and Roll Call 10:00 a.m. Preisler called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m., gave a brief overview of open meeting law procedure, and asked members to introduce themselves.

2) Announcements

Faber, with the Arizona Department of Transportation, replacing Orrahood, Bailey, with the University of Arizona, Atkins, with the Arizona State Land Department, were introduced and welcomed.

Ehrfurth mentioned the U.S. Board on Geographic Names has a principles, policies, and procedures document that outlines how they choose to name things, and the ASBGHN follows these same principles; the U.S. Board has updated this document, and one of the changes is they removed the bar against diacritical marks.

3) Approval of the Minutes of the April 27, 2017, Regular Meeting

A motion to approve the April 27, 2017 minutes was made by Pearce and seconded by Coughlin; motion carried unanimously.

4) Chair’s Correspondence and Activity Report

Nothing new to add.

5) ASBGHN Staff Report, Discussion and/or Action

Ehrfurth discussed comments received regarding the removal of Confederate monuments in Arizona. This is an issue that does not fall within the statute governing the ASBGHN, so will not be discussed further.

A member of the public requested to add an email notification feature to the Board web page, for the purpose of allowing the public who are interested to receive notifications on upcoming Board meetings. Ehrfurth will work with IT personnel to look into the matter. Also, a sign-up sheet was available for those interested in receiving notifications to leave their contact information. Minutes of the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names September 25, 2017

Serenity Hill and Vickery Ridge, which were names approved by ASBGHN, have been officially added to the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) which is the federal list of approved names.

6) Maricopa County Naming Features on Maricopa County Land

Preisler gave a brief background regarding this ongoing issue of Maricopa County Flood Control District personnel naming features on maps without going through the ASBGHN naming process. Ehrfurth will draft a letter for the Board’s approval informing all counties of the rules for naming features in Arizona.

7) Dockets, Discussion and/or Action New Dockets Docket 2017-01, proposed new name of Serendipity Mountain in Mohave County: a member of the public wanted to name an unnamed peak on his privately-owned land; Ehrfurth sent out correspondence to groups who might be concerned but hasn’t heard anything from anyone, except the Mohave County Board of Supervisors approves. A motion to accept the proposal was made by Coughlin and seconded by Pearce; motion carried 5 to 1.

Docket 2017-02, proposed name change from Jefferson Davis National Highway to Martin Luther King Memorial Highway, and Docket 2017-03, proposed name change from Jefferson Davis National Highway to Governor Rose Mofford Memorial Highway in Pima County: competing proposals to change the name on an Arizona/U.S. highway were discussed together. Ehrfurth gave a presentation on the issue. After research was conducted, both proposals were erroneous in naming the highway in question as U.S. 60 when in fact the route that was originally designated as the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway was the U.S. 80 that changed to State Route 80. In July, 2016 the Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation submitted an application to ADOT’s Parkways, Historic and Scenic Roads Advisory Committee to designate the old US 80 route as the “Historic Arizona US Route 80” and in June, 2017 PHSRAC voted unanimously to recommend approval. The Arizona State Transportation Board will make a final decision on October 20, 2017.

Docket 2017-02 applicant, Leonard Clark, will submit a new proposal as a new name, and may change the name proposed to someone else.

Docket 2017-03 applicant, Roberto Reveles, spoke on how the naming of highways needs to be consistent, and he will re-present his application with the necessary changes.

3 A motion was made by Atkins to defer these dockets after applications are resubmitted, seconded by Coughlin; motion carried unanimously.

Docket 2017-04, proposed removal of Jefferson Davis National Highway designation on any highway/road thus named in Arizona: it is unclear if any road or highway still officially bears this name or if it was just carried over from map to map through the years. The Board needs an official response from the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Docket 2017-04 applicants, Marisa Scionti and Shannah Redmon, spoke to the Board.

Several members of the public and House Member Reginald Bolding, stood up to endorse the removal of this name from any road or highway in Arizona; however, the Board will have to seek counsel whether this is even a function of the board, and to continue to conduct research on whether there even currently is any road or highway with this name. Coordination with the Arizona Department of Transportation is necessary to even see if this name still officially exists. Coughlin made a motion to defer action, seconded by Pearce; motion carried unanimously.

Docket 2017-05, proposed new name of Walkabout Mesa in Yavapai County: the geographic feature is proposed to be named, and was first submitted to the National Board, who deferred it to the State Board. The proposed geographic feature is located on Walkabout Ranch. The U.S. Names Board will not approve a name if the proposal comes from a commercial entity. The proposer states the name will not be used to promote anything commercially. Coughlin made the motion for Ehrfurth to start researching and coordinating on this proposal, seconded by Atkins; motion carried unanimously.

Deferred Dockets Docket 2016-02, proposed new name, Day Pass/Ann Day Memorial Wildlife Bridge in Pima County: a name has been proposed for the wildlife bridge that has been built. The contacted tribes have not replied, nor has the Arizona State Lands Department. According to Jonathan Crowe with the Pima County Department of Transportation, the Pima County Board of Supervisors approves the name. Coughlin made a motion to approve, but since the three new members of the Names Board have not had time to review the background on this issue, the motion was withdrawn until further review and response by the Arizona State Land Department.

Docket 2016-03, proposed name change, from Twentyfour and One-half Mile Rapid to Bert Loper Rapids in Coconino County: a member of the public from California submitted to change the name to honor Bert Loper. This was originally proposed to the National Board, who delegated discussion to the State Board. The National Park Service and the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians are both opposed to the name change. Pearce made a motion to deny the application, seconded by Coughlin; motion did not pass due to a vote of 2 yeas, 2 nays, and 3 abstentions, so it will remain a deferred docket. Minutes of the Arizona State Board on Geographic and Historic Names September 25, 2017

Deferred Dockets (2015-01 through 2015-07)- Note: This item is not in order of how it was spoken Martinez informed the Board via email there will be a workshop in November for the various tribes, in an effort to get them to agree on names. If there is no agreement, Martinez suggests the deferred dockets be removed, since nothing can move forward without agreement by the tribes.

8) Selection of future meeting dates The Board would like to meet end of October or beginning of November, after the Transportation Board had met; will select a future meeting date after information from the Transportation Board meeting has been made available.

9) Suggested Agenda Items

10) Comments from the Public A member of the public asked if removal of a name has been done by the Board previously, and does a new name removal proposal need to be submitted; the matter will have to be reviewed, and Ehrfurth will work with the applicants.

11) Adjournment Meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m.