The Interior Department has approved a list of replacement names for nearly 650 geographic sites – including 50 in Utah – that included a racist and sexist slur. In her comments on the name changes, Secretary Deb Haaland said she felt obligated to use her platform to ensure public lands are ‘accessible and welcoming.’ The Moab area has new geographic names in the Manti La Sal National Forest, Canyonlands National Park and near the confluence of the Dolores and Colorado Rivers. Plus, players willing to predict monsoon precipitation levels in five major cities will soon find out who won the Southwest Monsoon Fantasy Forecasts game. And later, as climate change brings longer and more severe drought to the American Southwest, a community-led coalition is celebrating new protections streams in Colorado.

// Show Notes:

// Photo: Tukuhnikivatz Spring in the La Sal Mountains replaces a trail name that once included a racist slur. The Interior Department changed nearly 650 geographic site names across the country / Credit Ken Lund

// USGS: New Names (Map)

https://geonarrative.usgs.gov/names_taskforce/

// USGS: New Names (List)

https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/all-official-sq-names

// Interior Dept Completes Removal of ‘Sq_’ from Federal Use

https://edits.nationalmap.gov/apps/gaz-domestic/public/all-official-sq-names

// Southwest Monsoon Fantasy Forecasts

https://monsoonfantasy.arizona.edu/home