Alaska House adopts resolution urging federal officials to keep Denali name after heated amendment fight

The Alaska House passed a committee substitute for House Joint Resolution 4 on third reading, urging the president, the U.S. secretary of the interior and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to maintain Denali as the official name for the tallest mountain in North America. The roll call on final passage was 28 yays and 10 nays.

The resolution matters because it asks federal officials to preserve the name Denali, a name supporters said is tied to Alaska's indigenous history and state identity. Lawmakers spent most of floor debate arguing whether the chamber’s first message to the federal government should focus narrowly on the name or also praise recent federal executive orders on energy and resource access.

Representative Divert introduced House Joint Resolution 4 and repeatedly urged colleagues to keep the measure focused on the mountain’s name. "My goal was to focus very narrowly on the name of Denali," Representative Divert said on the floor, arguing the name carries deep cultural importance in Fairbanks and…