Anyone who has climbed Silver Star Mountain knows about Sturgeon Rock... or has at least asked "hey what is that rocky outcrop over there?".   Sturgeon is one of a number of landmarks in the area that were officially recognized by the USGS in the 1950s, including Pyramid Rock and Indian Pitts.

Problems is ...the USGS put it in the wrong place! 

That's right, the original database had it marked about a mile away from where the rock obviously sits - and after map thereafter had it wrong as well!

Now this otherwise might have gone unnoticed except that hikers know Sturgeon Rock as the high-point of Skamania County, and there is a whole sub-culture of climber that 'bag' County High points!

Six months ago (our very own) Don Nelsen, submitted to USGS to have problem fixed.  8 months later....It is!

I'll follow this message with the story (featuring Don) that ran in the Columbian last week

Sturgeon Rock -- It's Official Now

Wednesday, December 06, 2006
By Erik Robinson Columbian staff writer

This rocky outcrop, shown in a view from Silver Star Mountain,
is no recognized as Sturgeon Rock by the Washington State
Board on Geographical Names. (Photo by Don Nelsen)

Sturgeon Rock, relegated to a cartographic purgatory for almost half a century, has officially re-emerged as Clark County's highest point.

The Washington State Board on Geographic Names last week approved a Vancouver resident's request to correct a "well-known and long-standing error" on published maps. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names is expected to ratify the state board's unanimous decision Jan. 11.

At that point, all new state and federal maps will show the 4,120-foot-tall outcrop straddling the Clark-Skamania county line as Sturgeon Rock.

Don Nelsen, the Vancouver man who pointed out the error to state and U.S. naming boards, said he and other experienced hikers in the area knew the rocky outcropping as Sturgeon Rock all along.

"You can't miss it, anyway," he said. "Being a stickler for precision and an amateur cartographer all my life, I'm really happy with the outcome."

Indeed, there is no mistaking the feature on the landscape.

"The rock looks like a sturgeon fin," said Tim Gregg, executive secretary of the state name board.

The issue came to light earlier this year, when The Columbian published a story about a mountain goat that had taken up residence on a nearby outcrop named Pyramid Rock.

Hiker Charles Webberley took issue with a short accompanying item that noted that the highest place in Clark County was an unnamed point on the county line near Silver Star Mountain in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

The point had a name, Webberley said, but it was not acknowledged on most area maps.

A U.S. Forest Service cartographer traced the problem to a federal database constructed in 1958, at which point all subsequent maps repeated the same error.

Official maps therefore placed Sturgeon Rock a mile to the west, at an unremarkable location 1,000 feet lower than the distinctive outcrop on the county line. Now, that lesser point will become officially nameless, Gregg offered a tongue-in-cheek suggestion:

"Maybe Caviar Rock?"

Did you know?

* You can barely see Clark County's highest point from the flatlands. Look to the northeastern horizon on the right of Mount St. Helens. Sturgeon Rock also is visible just to the left of the summit of the double-humped Silver Star Mountain.

Update

* Previously:

Readers took issue with a Columbian story on March 3 that referred to an unnamed point on the Clark-Skamania county line as the highest point in Clark County. Experienced hikers knew the point as Sturgeon Rock, but published maps didn't reflect it.

* What's new:

The Washington State Board on Geographic Names on Friday approved Vancouver resident Don Nelsen's request to change the official location of Sturgeon Rock to the point on the county line.

* What's next:

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names is expected to ratify the state board's decision on Jan. 11.

Here's a link to the original story back in spring.  (Unfortunately, tt's just raw text now)

http://www.columbian.com/news/breakingNews/storyText19274.cfm