Reconciliation in Place Names Act Would Help Make Public Lands Welcoming to All People

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) reintroducedthe Reconciliation in Place Names Act. The bill would re-establish an advisory committee that was created by Secretary Deb Haaland within the Department of the Interior and terminated by Secretary Doug Burgum. The committee's purpose was to work on renaming geographic features or places with racist, offensive, and derogatory names.

Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) joined in cosponsoring the bill.

In response, Robert Scott, Deputy Director of Federal Policy with Sierra Club's Outdoors for All campaign, released the following statement:

"Our country's public lands have no equal for natural beauty, but in too many places, those landscapes are marked by names that evoke some of the ugliest chapters in American history. These landscapes are meant to be for all to explore and enjoy, but they cannot be welcoming to all when a site's official name includes insults or slurs that demean entire communities. The Reconciliation in Places Names Act is an important step in the process of making our public lands truly places for all people."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.