Secretary Haaland Delivers Farewell Speech, Highlights Enduring Progress During Biden-Harris Administration

Date: Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland today delivered remarks during a program at the Department of the Interior to celebrate the historic and enduring progress achieved during the Biden-Harris administration.

Over the past four years, the Biden-Harris administration has made unprecedented progress for our shared public lands, waters, wildlife and the communities they sustain. Under Secretary Haaland and Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis’s leadership, the Department has taken bold action to protect sacred spaces, lands, waters and wildlife, and has forever changed what it means to honor the nation-to-nation relationship with Tribes. The Department and its bureaus have expanded what support for locally led conservation and restoration looks like. Through collaborative work, dedicated public servants have unleashed the science and advanced a clean energy economy that will power millions of homes and businesses across the country. And thanks to the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Department has invested billions of dollars into critical infrastructure projects and in communities that have been historically marginalized.

Secretary Haaland’s remarks as prepared for delivery are below:

Thank you so much for that beautiful introduction. It has been a true gift to help champion Indian Country alongside you. I’m honored to be your colleague and your friend.

[Introduction in Keres].

Hello, relatives and friends. I’m so grateful to be here with each of you. As I look out at friends, family and colleagues, I’m overwhelmed by how proud I am of everything we have accomplished together. To those of you sharing in this special occasion in celebration of a loved one – thank you for joining us. You play a huge role in supporting the public servants that make celebrations like today possible.

Laura laid out several really outstanding and historic achievements that Interior’s superstar workforce and partners have made possible. It’s been a team effort in every sense of the word.

I want to say right at the top that having partners like Rachael [Taylor] and Laura [Daniel-Davis] have given me the peace of mind that comes only because of the immense trust I have in their leadership. Thank you both for your service to our nation and for delivering on our priorities. Everyone, please give them a round of applause.

There are so many people to thank that I know I would miss someone if I tried. If you were invited to join us, you have played a role in the enduring progress we have achieved as a team. And you have my unwavering gratitude.

I’m going to be honest...I had no idea what these last four years had in store when I got to the Department. I didn’t know the sheer breadth of what we’d accomplish...or how we’d deliver many billions of dollars to the American people. I just knew – alongside every leader and team player here – that this work was urgent and necessary.

So, I started with honesty, and now I’ll be blunt. The future is uncertain. We all know that. We can see it on the nightly news and in the challenges that mount before us every day. We see it as we watch communities in California devastated by fire. Lives lost, family homes destroyed with conditions exacerbated by the effects of climate change. And yet, heroes have run toward the crisis and to those in need.

They are what keep me hopeful – and what keeps me inspired is that, even with the uncertainty of today, the future remains bright, and it remains ours.

Our workforce is amazing. I’ve been privileged to visit with many employees, here in D.C. and in the field, across 53 states and territories to see firsthand the work all of you do with expertise and passion. Together, we have delivered on the goals we, ourselves, set nearly four years ago.

Laura talked about the goal of addressing the climate and biodiversity crises. The incredible ways we have accelerated wind and solar development across our lands and waters to power millions of homes and businesses. And how we have brought world-class science to bear on some of the most pressing challenges of our time. We’ve restored rivers to their free-flowing form and cleared fish passages… connected key wildlife corridors… protected Indigenous sacred sites… and enhanced access for subsistence uses in key places. We’ve made decisions as to what’s best, not for industry’s bottom line, but for current and future generations. And we did all of this work with integrity and guided by our values.

I’m so proud of this President and this team – and I know that so much of this work will endure because of the power of our partnerships.

I want to talk about some of the other goals Rachael laid out, starting with how we have ushered in a new era for Indian Country.

When I got here, I was determined to honor and elevate Tribal sovereignty and the nation-to-nation relationship, not with words but with actions. Joining me in this effort was many of you, but in particular I want to celebrate Solicitor Bob Anderson, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland and their teams, who were defiantly committed to this mission.

With nearly $45 billion dollars from the President’s Investing in America agenda – specifically the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, American Rescue Plan Act, and Inflation Reduction Act – we delivered transformational change to Indian Country.

We brought Tribes directly to the decision-making table. Among them was my table – in fact – through the first-ever Secretary’s Tribal Advisory Committee, so that Tribal leaders could have a real and meaningful say in how funding was spent for priorities like 21st-century infrastructure, drought mitigation, climate adaptation, co-stewardship, and so much more.

We consulted with Tribes on how to do our work well and in a way that is inclusive of their communities. We even had consultation sessions to discuss how to consult better!

And that communication – that trust and partnership – has yielded historic change. have seen the fruits of our labor become a reality across America.

On Hopi land in Arizona, there are now homes that can power a refrigerator and even turn on lights when it gets dark, thanks to our Tribal Electrification Program. As a kid growing up, I spent many summer weekends at Hopi enjoying cultural activities and visiting family. I never once thought about the fact that many of the homes we visited had no electricity. Now, homes like those in the village of Old Oraibi have installed solar panels and can have the benefits of electricity. There is a certain pride that accompanies Pueblo peoples who live as their ancestors did. However, in this modern era, energy can make the positive difference for families who deserve to thrive.

At the Quinault Indian Nation in Washington State, I saw our Community Driven Relocation Program hard at work, relocating the community to higher ground. The Tribe is home to a beautiful coastline, and the mist blessed my face as I prayed one early morning during a visit. The traditional village is also beautiful. As I stood listening to traditional songs being sung by Tribal leadership, the waves enveloping basalt rocks on shore emitted a calmness that masked a deep problem during high tides, when the village floods. Now, thanks to new funding, the Quinault people can continue to practice their traditions and culture and live on their ancestral homelands while planning for an abundant future.

In Alaska, we are elevating co-stewardship through our Gravel-to-Gravel initiative – which revitalizes the riparian ecosystems that wild salmon depend on to complete their journeys to the sea and back again. While there, I saw the decaying carcasses of spawned salmon – the end of their life cycles and an increasingly rare yet beautiful act of nature. Alaska Native people have been stewarding wild salmon since time immemorial and Native leaders must be at the decision-making table when it comes to their management. In fact, the name “gravel-to-gravel" was an idea promulgated around such a table, essentially describing the salmon’s life cycle. And to help ensure that Alaska Native communities have a voice in subsistence policies, we implemented a new regulation that added three seats to the Federal Subsistence Board nominated by Alaska Native Tribes.

In Hawai’i, we met with Native Hawaiian Community members and toured 800-year-old basalt rock lined fishponds – forms of a subsistence lifestyle that survived colonization in spite of the odds. These are the ancestral resources that must be protected. Ensuring that the Native Hawaiian Community has a seat at the table before decisions are made is important to the foundational way our Department operates. Native Hawaiians are the first stewards of their Islands and the ocean that surrounds them. They know and understand the plants, animals, and history of the land. Our Department can make better decisions with the benefit of their knowledge.

Part of ushering in change for Indian Country is to facilitate healing. I have often said that I believe we are in an era of healing. That healing has been among the most important things I have done as Secretary.

Chelsea spoke about the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, which exposed the reality of the federal government’s role in the creation and proliferation of brutal Indian boarding schools across the nation. Ultimately, that work resulted in the designation of a new national park unit that will tell this story in perpetuity. It also inspired an apology from President Biden himself for the federal government’s role in this difficult chapter of our history. As I stood next to him, I felt the power of our ancestors, who persevered through unthinkable odds so that we could be there that day.

The Boarding School Initiative was not the only difficult challenge that we tackled.

By creating the Missing and Murdered Unit and convening the Not Invisible Act Commission, we took diligent steps to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples. This is a crisis that we need to talk about every single day. I was an advocate for these issues long before I came to Congress or the Department, and I will continue to use my platform to bring light to this issue as long as I have one.

My child Somah and I love the outdoors. Regardless of how much money I had in my bank account, I could suit them up, grab our water bottles and take off to explore.

The goal of equitable access to the outdoors is near and dear to my heart. As a kid, I never wanted for adventures in the great outdoors, because my parents and grandparents took care to immerse us in the beauty of nature every chance they got. That same accessibility is what we’ve been striving for here at Interior.

First, we got to work making these places welcoming to all.

Even in 2021, offensive names – including racial slurs – still dotted our public lands and waters. In response, we created an Advisory Committee that identified and removed the names of nearly 650 places that used the quote “SQ” word – a highly offensive and sexist word for Indigenous women. I am grateful to our Board on Geographic Names for their hard work, even as the effort to address additional derogatory words continues.

My mother – God rest her soul – used a wheelchair in the later stages of her life. But that didn’t stop us from wanting to get outdoors. One year I organized a visit to Pecos National Historical Park for her birthday – her father was a descendant of Pecos – and I was so happy that we had the opportunity to help her see so much of the site from her wheelchair. The disabilities that our family and friends face should not limit their enjoyment of our beautiful outdoors.

Saguaro National Park is home to the most beautiful desert landscape, where 250-year-old saguaro cacti stand together with their younger family members, providing homes for resident birds and guarding every rock and blade of native grass. This is a place that every individual should have the chance to see. Across our National Park System at places like Saguaro, accessibility improvements are being made possible by the Great American Outdoors Act. The last time I visited, I thought about how basic things like paved trails and roads can mean more people can experience the beautiful areas we steward.

But for many, that access to nature still sits out of reach, especially for folks in urban areas. That’s why we’ve poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program. This program was zeroed out when we walked in the door, but we have since distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to cities for new and expanded outdoor urban spaces.

Accessing and enjoying our public lands has been one goal. Telling America’s story – both the joyful and painful chapters – has been another. Much of this work has played out through your incredible advocacy and President Biden’s creation of national monuments.

Thanks to our teams at the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, places like Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada and Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in Arizona tell the stories of the Indigenous peoples who have prospered and traveled across those living landscapes. Yesterday, we added another place to this esteemed list – Chuckwalla National Monument.

In Mississippi and Chicago, the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument now tells the horrific story of Emmett Till’s murder, and his mother Mamie’s brave decision to display his open casket to the world. During my visit with community leaders in Mississippi, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz and I held a roundtable at the Tallahatchie County Courthouse, where Emmett Till’s murderers were acquitted. A young woman spoke up, saying that even though she grew up nearby, she had never learned about the murder of Emmett Till in the local public school. We are changing that reality.

I could go on and on. There are myriad examples of the Interior team going beyond the call of duty to make real, tangible, enduring progress a reality.

But these achievements didn’t happen by accident. Our team chose to do this work right, so that more of our wins can withstand the test of time and the inevitable shifts in leadership here in Washington.

That valued-based approach started with inclusive decision making. We expanded our table, so that historically disadvantaged communities had a place there. We made sure that environmental justice was a call to action, not a talking point.

We expanded and built new partnerships, particularly in Indian Country where lack of access to capital holds Native-owned businesses and Tribes back. Now, enabled by our colleagues at Native Americans in Philanthropy, we’ve launched the Vision Partnership, which will raise and deploy $1.2 billion in impact for Tribal communities.

With our partners at the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian and the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition, we are preserving the stories of boarding school survivors and their descendants so that those pieces of history are never lost.

With partners like the National Park Foundation and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, we protected and fortified ecosystems and national parks and public lands across the country.

We forged entirely new partnerships – like launching the Foundation for America’s Public Lands and the National Fund for Excellence in American Indian Education.

We even took our partnerships on the road internationally. From the United Nations to Colombia to Australia to Paraguay and beyond, with support from our Offices of International and Insular Affairs, I had the honor to share and broaden our partnerships with those who champion our passion for democracy...for tackling challenges like wildlife trafficking, expanding access to the outdoors, and uplifting Indigenous voices. That includes our unconditional support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We did all of this with an eye toward the future. An eye toward the young people who will inherit this work and sharpen the tools we have built for them to succeed.

Under the banner of President Biden’s American Climate Corps, we established the Indian Youth Service Corps to create opportunities for Native youth to get involved in projects that help steward their ancestral homelands – projects like bison and language revitalization and the restoration of Indigenous food systems and repairing ancient rock walls.

We’re more than 30 minutes into this program and I still feel like Laura and I have only scratched the surface. But at the end of the day, it’s never boring!

Yet despite the scale of that mission, the nature of what makes our work happen is simple. Every trip, every meeting, every challenge we untangle, and every win we achieve, is grounded in the belief that community is everything.

I’ll leave you with one final story.

While visiting my ancestral homelands of Chaco Culture National Historical Park in Northwestern New Mexico, I learned that between 850 and 1150 AD, Pueblo Bonito – Chaco's largest great house – was constructed with an estimated 100 million pounds of stone.

I pictured hundreds of Pueblo peoples – my ancestors – gathering stones, making the mud mortar, and hauling water to make it all possible. I thought about the weight of their legacy – a weight that, while heavy, has motivated me to lead this Department which, just a few generations ago, tried to erase Indigenous peoples and our ways of life.

I stand on the shoulders of so many people that have spoken out for the earth and its animals… who stood up for Indian Country, for women, for Civil Rights.

No one, at any point in time, has accomplished anything “alone.” Not in 1150 AD, when the odds my ancestors faced were significant. Not four years ago, when the challenges our communities grappled with were immense, but changeable. Not when I took on this job and inherited a team that would make any leader envious. And not today – when the work goes on, in more ways than one.

Dawaa’e. Thank you all for being my colleagues. Thank you for being my friends and my family and the changemakers I could have only dreamed to work alongside. You give me tremendous hope, and it’s been the honor of my life to serve with you.

###