Removing a Derogatory Term from Usage in Administrative Designation Names under the Authority of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
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The purpose of this Instruction Memorandum (IM) is to comply with the intent of Secretary’s Order No. 3404 to keep information about BLM-administered places and processes accurate, and to comply with the terms of Public Law 80-242.
Administrative
The Board on Geographic Names (BGN) under the direction of Secretary’s Order No. 3404 approved new official names for 643 geographic features and 5 unincorporated populated places in the United States formerly bearing the derogatory term “sq___”, including 150 features which are entirely or partially on BLM-managed surface lands (Attachment 3). In accordance with Public Law 80–242, only official geographic names are to be used on Federal maps, publications, and other conventional and digital products, including websites.
Several administrative designations under the BLM’s authority continue to bear the term “sq___” in their name, including Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, Grazing Allotments and Pastures, and roads and trails (Attachment 4). To comply with the intent of Secretary’s Order No. 3404, replacements should be identified when the names of these areas are under BLM’s authority. Replacement names can reflect the new name of the related geographic feature or an alternate name that does not include the derogatory term. New names must avoid any new derogatory terms and should be chosen in consultation with BLM State Civil Rights, Communications, and Tribal staff resources as well as the appropriate Executive Leadership Team member. In addition, State Directors should ensure there is appropriate communications with the BLM Headquarters Office as they implement name changes. Names should be updated in any applicable BLM-managed database.
Replacement names shall be identified within 60 days.
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On November 19, 2021, the Secretary of the Interior formally declared “sq___” to be a derogatory term and ordered the Board on Geographic Names (BGN) – the Federal body under the authority of the Department of the Interior tasked with approving the official names of geographic places – to implement procedures to remove the term from Federal usage.
Secretary's Order No. 3404 formally identified the term “sq___” as derogatory and created a task force to find replacement names for U.S. geographic features bearing the term. The term has historically been used as an offensive ethnic, racial, and sexist slur, particularly toward Indigenous women.
On September 8, 2022, the BGN approved new official names for the 643 geographic features in the United States bearing the derogatory term “sq___”, including 150 features that are entirely or partially on BLM-managed surface lands (Attachment 3). On January 12, 2023, the BGN approved new names for seven unincorporated populated places with the term “sq___”, officially completing the tasks directed by the Secretary’s Order.
The task force formed to find replacement names adopted the styling “sq___” in their documentation and communications when reference to the term was unavoidable. Task force members shared this determination with their agencies and communities of practice to achieve wider standardization and advance the effort to remove the term from Federal usage.
Official geographic names can be found in the publicly accessible Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), administered by the U.S. Geological Survey. The GNIS should be used as the sole authoritative source of geographic names for the purposes of creating and updating BLM products.
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Patrick Mahoney, Geospatial Program Lead – Decision Support Branch, (202) 407-0422
HQ-210, HQ-410, HQ-430, AD-400, AD-600, HQ-600 National Web Team, Solicitor