On March 15, then-Representative Deb Haaland
(NM) was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the U.S. Secretary of
the Interior and was sworn into office on the following day. Her
nomination and confirmation are historic in nature. Sec. Haaland, a 35th
generation New Mexican and enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo Tribe,
is the first ever Native American cabinet secretary.
Sec. Haaland
was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 from New
Mexico’s First Congressional District, which encompasses greater
Albuquerque and includes the Pueblo of Laguna. Along with Rep. Sharice
Davids (KS), Sec. Haaland is one of the first Native American women
elected to the U.S. Congress. Upon arriving to Congress, Sec. Haaland
was given a seat on the House Committee on Natural Resources and named
its Vice Chair. Additionally, she was appointed Chair of the
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, a rarity and
high honor for a first-term Representative.
During her time in
the House of Representatives, Sec. Haaland was a champion for the
protection of public lands, conservation, environmental justice, climate
change mitigation, and clean water. She supported ASLA priorities such
as permanent authorization of and fully funding for the Land and Water
Conservation Fund (LWCF) and funding the National Park Service (NPS) and
other land management agencies’ maintenance backlogs. This support
culminated in her co-sponsorship of the Great American Outdoors Act,
which she will now implement.
The Department of the Interior (DOI)
has 70,000 employees and manages America’s natural resources, cultural
heritage, and roughly 75 percent of our public lands. Agencies within
the department include the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land
Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of
Reclamation, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The DOI employs many
landscape architects in its offices, parks, public lands, and sites
across the nation, in addition to working with many civilian landscape
architects who do business with and for the Department.
On March 17, the New Mexico Chapter of ASLA and government affairs staff sent a letter
to Sec. Haaland congratulating her on her confirmation and providing
insight on climate change, natural and cultural resources, and outdoor
recreation policies for our public lands. ASLA National followed up with
our own letter
of congratulations, with an offer to work with the Secretary and DOI
staff on issues of mutual importance. This is in addition to ASLA
sharing a comprehensive set of policy recommendations with the administration.
Besides the implementation of the Great American Outdoors Act, there
are many important issues the Department must confront in the coming
months regarding public lands, climate change, environmental justice,
and energy use and extraction on public lands. ASLA government affairs
will continue to work with Sec. Haaland and her staff to ensure that
landscape architects have a seat at the table.