U.S. Senators move again to protect Devils Tower name

U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis and John Barrasso have resubmitted a bill that would protect the name of Devils Tower National Monument.

The bill, which was introduced on January 22 and has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, would designate the monument as “Devils Tower” and commands that it shall be referred to as such in any law, map, regulation, document, paper or record.

Senator Mike Enzi first introduced the bill, along with Barrasso, in 2015, at which time Lummis introduced companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

“Devils Tower is one of the most iconic sights in Wyoming, and as the first national monument, its name holds a great deal of value to generations of Wyoming residents,” said Lummis. 

“Devils Tower is well known across the country and around the world, and we should maintain its legacy and its name. We do not need Washington and coastal elites coming into our state and trying to change it.”

The original legislation was penned in response to a petition that was submitted to the State and U.S. Board on Geographic Names by Chief Arvol Looking Horse, spiritual leader of the Great Sioux Nation, which requested Devils Tower be renamed to “Bear Lodge” on the basis that the current name is offensive and a mistranslation.

This petition came to the attention of the Crook County Commission, which in March, 2015 opened the question to the public and received almost 1000 comments, the vast majority supporting the name “Devils Tower.”

Lummis refers to this and other attempts to make changes to the monument’s name in her press release about the companion legislation she has now introduced in the U.S. Senate, citing the fact that “since 2005, petitioners have asked the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to rename Devils Tower. The bureaucratic board has been unable to do so, however, thanks to the Devils Tower protection bill.”

Since the bill is under consideration by Congress, states the press release, the board cannot make its own decision on the issue. As a result, whether the bill becomes law or not, the name cannot be changed.