Sharsmith Peak status reports

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Status Reports for Sharsmith Peak naming:

circa June 1, 2007 (sent to contact list)
circa September 1, 2007 (sent to contact list)
September 21, 2007 (sent to contact list 10/25/07)
September 23, 2007 (sent to contact list10/25/07)
October 3, 2007 (sent to contact list 10/25/07): Dr. Owen Hoffman presents Name4Carl proposal to Board on Geographic Names at their meeting of October 3, 2007. Click the following link for photos of his presentation, then scroll down that page about halfway: http://cogna50usa.org/07lexington/2007_lexington,_ky.htm
October 24, 2007 (sent to contact list 10/25/07)
November 1, 2007: James Ridenour, former director of National Park Service endorses naming Sharsmith Peak. (3 former directors are now in support).
An article on naming Sharsmith Peak airs at www.nationalparkstraveler.com.
November 27, 2007: Mariposa County Board of Supervisors unanimously resolves that Sharsmith Peak be officially named.
April 7, 2008: Posted today is a letter from NPS Director Bomar re Sharsmith Peak naming
April 18, 2008: Information received today is that Yosemite National Park and the National Park Service will propose to the U.S. Board on Geographic Names that a point on the Tioga Road from which Mt. Dana can be seen be named Sharsmith Point. This is to avoid a perceived policy conflict with formally naming the informally-named Sharsmith Peak due to its partial presence in wilderness. A response by the Name4Carl Committee to the Board on Geographic Names and to Yosemite National Park will be considered.
October 15, 2008: A search of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names website revealed no new action on this proposal.
November 1, 2008: At the recent Yosemite reunion we had a discussion of the Sharsmith Peak proposal. Several committee members were present at this discussion (Jones, Hoffman, Barbee, Harry, Merry) and another dozen or so other interested persons were also at this discussion. Mainly this discussion was to give a status report (still stalled at Board on Geographic Names), but we also discussed the future of the proposal and a separate proposal by another committee to rename North Palisade as Brower Palisade, an idea that California senators Feinstein and Boxer introduced in the Senate. The discussion group had a consensus on keeping alive the Sharsmith Peak proposal as it stands with the Board on Geographic Names. Others at the reunion although not at the discussion expressed the same view. We would not take action until the national election results settle down, as well as the park staff (the superintendent is retiring as is Jan vanWagtendonk, although both are expected to remain active in Yosemite matters). Then we will look at reminding the Board on Geographic Names of the proposal and asking for its status. We’ll have the supporting past superintendents do this and Jack Morehead later agreed to head this up. You may recall that a proposal was made last April by park staff that a Yosemite Point along the Tioga Road be proposed instead of formally naming Sharsmith Peak. This idea had also been presented by park staff informally (not via the superintendent) to Len McKenzie more recently. The group that met at the reunion showed no interest in pursuing this idea. It was pointed out that naming a point on the Tioga Road for Carl was inconsistent with his feelings about the road although if this point was to be named in addition to Sharsmith Peak that might be O.K. As a result of this discussion, we did not meet with park staff although the Sharsmith Peak proposal was informally discussed by some committee members at the reunion gathering with Jan vanWagtendonk and Yosemite Superintendent Mike Tollefson.
September 24, 2009: A search of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names website revealed no new action on this proposal. Because National Park Service Director Bomar resigned with the presidential election last fall and because Yosemite Park Superintendent Tollefson and Yosemite Resources Manager Jan VanWagtendonk have retired, and because no replacements have been appointed to either the national director or the park superintendent posts, the Name4Carl Committee continues to await the proper time to resubmit its proposal to formally name Sharsmith Peak. Meanwhile there are more entries being reported on the web for the name Sharsmith Peak, so the name is becoming established in spite of the government's inaction.
December 7, 2009: A search of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names website revealed no new action on this proposal. Yosemite Acting Superintendent Uberuaga informally indicated his support of the Sharsmith Peak naming proposal.
March 9, 2010: A search of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names website revealed no new action on this proposal. Don Neubacher, new Yosemite superintendent, is expected to assume duties mid-March.
January 25, 2011: Superintendent Neubacher did assume his Yosemite post. Former Western Regional Director Jarvis (whose area included Yosemite) is now national Director of the National Park Service. Retired Yosemite Superintendent Tollefson became the director of the Yosemite Conservancy, which combined the former Yosemite Association (which had given its support to the naming, which, now, however, may be moot) and Yosemite Fund. A search of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names website revealed no new action on this proposal.
March 7, 2011: Domestic Names Committee of U.S. Board on Geographic Names reports
"We regret to inform you that the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, at its February 17, 2011 meeting, did not approve the proposal to apply the name Sharsmith Peak to an unnamed summit in Mono County and Tuolumne County, California. This decision was made citing the negative recommendations of the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service, and in the belief that the proposal did not warrant an exception to the Board's Wilderness Policy. Sincerely yours, Lou Yost, Executive Secretary, Domestic Names Committee, U.S. Board on Geographic Names."
March 8, 2011: William R Jones of Name4Carl Committee sent this request to Lou Yost: "May I receive copies of the statements by the National Park Service and the U.S.Forest Service?" The Name4Carl Committee has been unaware of these statements.

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