Removing a Derogatory Term from Usage in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Operations and Products; Implementing Secretary’s Order No. 3404 on Public Lands Managed by the BLM and in the Agency’s Published Materials

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.

The BLM has also issued guidance for updating any administrative designation name that contains the derogatory term. Offices should update signage, maps, websites, and other written materials to reflect updated geographic and administrative names. This policy will also apply to materials created by contractors or by parties who receive grants or funding under an agreement with the BLM. State Directors should ensure there is appropriate communications with the BLM Headquarters Office as they implement name changes.

Signs

BLM State Offices shall immediately remove any sign which uses the derogatory term, and identify funding and submit orders for replacement signs that use appropriate language for both geographic and administrative features by September 30, 2024, following the policy and process in BLM MS-9130 Sign Manual (Rel. 9-359) and BLM H-9130-1 National Sign Handbook
(Rel. 9-415).

Maps and Publications

Maps and publications in electronic and print form should be updated to reflect the new names. The review of map products should include those posted by BLM staff to the Avenza web store, maps printed for sale or distribution from any BLM location, printed maps displayed in BLM public and staff-only locations, and maps posted on the BLM’s public and internal websites. Publications that should be updated include brochures and documents that are regularly updated and distributed, both internally and to the public. This policy does not apply to documents created prior to the name changes that are not regularly updated and distributed or to documents that are governed by other laws and policies, such as planning documents and scientific reports.

BLM offices are responsible for affixing an errata sticker or label with standard disclaimer language (Attachment 5) to maps, brochures, guides, and other physical publications already printed which contain the term until they can be revised and reprinted.

BLM Websites, Applications, and Social Media

Any occurrences of the term “sq___” should be updated on the BLM External Website, other agency-owned websites and applications, both internal and public-facing, and content on official agency social media platforms. This includes narrative text, photo captions, alt-text descriptions, file names and page names. All newly created materials, including press releases, planning documents and social media content, should follow this guidance.

Existing content on BLM's External Site identified in content management policy reports should be updated in the following manner:

• Content within the Drupal Content Management System (CMS) on the external website which refers to a place whose name has been officially changed through BGN action shall be updated to reflect that place’s new official name. This includes any existing media file names and alt-text descriptions.
• Content on the external website that pulls from Recreation.gov will be updated as part of the database revisions in IM 2024-022, Removing a Derogatory Term from Usage in Administrative Designation Names under the Authority of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
• Maps posted to any BLM website should be replaced with updated versions.
• Content on the external website which refers to a common name for vegetation that includes the derogatory term shall be updated by members of the National Web Team to use alternate names, after consultation with the National Botany program lead.

The following instances are exempt from the requirement but may be updated as practicable:

• Press releases posted prior to the date of this IM,
• Documents (PDF, DOC, XLS, etc.) created prior to the selection of new names that are governed by other laws and policies, such as planning documents and scientific reports, and
• Content on official BLM Social media accounts posted prior to the selection of new names.

Style Guides

Any style guides currently used for creating official Bureau publications should be updated as appropriate to accomplishing this policy. Where reference to existing materials that utilize the term is unavoidable, new written content shall be styled “sq___” and marked according to the style guidance that applies to the larger setting for the text – e.g., square brackets, [ ] – to indicate the revision. The BLM Correspondence Style Guide shall be updated to include this guidance.