The South Dakota Board on Geographic Names (SDBGN) is seeking public input on two unnamed features in Minnehaha County.

One feature is an unnamed island in the Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids, where the river divides.  One name proposed for this island:  Quarry Island. 

The second feature is a creek near Valley Springs.  Two names have been proposed for the creek: Annie Anderson Creek and Manning Creek. 

The SDBGN follows the guidance from the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The guidelines state that preferred names be descriptive of topographic forms suggested by local history, folklore or incident, or by associated natural life or other phenomena, including American Indian or other ethnic names appropriate to the area.

A proposed name should not duplicate another name in the state or nearby in an adjoining state. If a personal name is proposed, it must be determined in the public interest to honor the person or family for historical or commemorative reasons, and that person must have been deceased at least five years. 

No name should imply discrimination or be derogatory to gender or a particular racial, ethnic or religious group and proposed names should not be considered obscene in a present-day cultural context.

Comments should be submitted no later than July 18, 2014.  A comment form is available upon request or on the SDBGN website:  http://www.sdbgn.sd.gov/.

Please send comments and recommendations to:

South Dakota Board on Geographic Names

South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations

302 East Dakota

Pierre, SD  57501

For more information, contact JR LaPlante at 605-773-3415

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