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 across Alaska. Supporters of the narrow approach said broadening the measure risked diluting that message.

Republican Representative Rauscher offered amendment number 1, which sponsors described as adding language to congratulate and thank the federal administration for a suite of executive orders related to resource development and other policies. "It doesn't, it doesn't do anything to the, resolution itself," Representative Rauscher said when moving the amendment, saying it would add praise for other executive orders alongside the request to keep the Denali name.

Backers of the amendment said the changes would unite the body and recognize federal actions they view as enabling resource development, energy security and jobs. Representative Vance said the executive actions "also reaffirm the Alaska Native Settlement Lands Act and many other issues that are so important to Alaska Natives." (Speaker quotations are from floor remarks recorded in the House transcript.) Opponents said the amendment expanded the resolution's subject and risked diluting the specific request about the mountain's name. Representative Copp argued the House should keep its first communication to the administration undiluted and focused on the indigenous name.

The amendment failed on a voice-to-tally vote: 17 yeas and 21 nays. After several procedural steps — including adoption earlier in the day of a committee substitute by unanimous consent — the substitute resolution advanced to third reading and passed on the final roll call, 28 yays and 10 nays. Representative Deibert spoke in favor on final reading, urging colleagues to support the resolution and noting the mountain’s long cultural history.

Representative McCabe later served notice of reconsideration on HJR4, a procedural step recorded in the House journal. The House also recorded that the Rules Committee had prepared the committee substitute adopted earlier in the day.

Background and context: the House substitute echoes a 2015 U.S. Board on Geographic Names decision and earlier state resolutions that affirmed Denali as the mountain’s name. Supporters framed the resolution as an assertion of state and cultural identity; opponents who opposed the amendment argued the body should not expand the message to federal officials beyond the name issue.

Votes at a glance

- Amendment 1 to HJR4 (Rauscher, et al.): failed, 17 yeas, 21 nays. - Committee substitute for HJR4 (on third reading): passed, 28 yays, 10 nays.

The House recorded the passage of the committee substitute and the failed amendment in the journal; no binding federal action follows from the state resolution, and several members noted the measure is a formal communication of the legislature’s view rather than a legally enforceable change.

Looking ahead: Representative McCabe's notice of reconsideration was entered on the record; if pursued, that could bring the measure back for another vote according to House rules. The transcript shows continued committee activity and related resource and natural-resources committee meetings scheduled after adjournment.