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 say which tribe asked for the request.

Citing Department of the Interior guidelines for consulting that allow tribal governments to request consultation when a decision with tribal implications is considered, board vice chair Susan Lyon said at the start of the meeting Thursday that “no decision will be made on Mount Evans today and we won’t be discussing any of the pending proposals.”

Clear Creek County officials and Native American tribal representatives said Thursday they wanted to wait to comment until they had more information about the request to defer a vote.

Read the full story at The Colorado Sun.