Board on Geographic Names defers vote to rename Mount Evans

In an unexpected twist Thursday morning, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names deferred a vote that would have changed the name of Mount Evans.

Many had expected the federal board to approve a new name, Mount Blue Sky, proposed by many Native American tribal leaders and representatives, Gov. Jared Polis, a Colorado renaming board and other community members.

But Thursday morning before the federal board’s meeting, Jennifer Runyon, executive acting secretary for the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, said the federal board had “received a request from a tribal government for government-to-government consultation,” and that a decision had been made to defer a final vote. The U.S. board did not initially say which tribe asked for the request.

At the start of the…