This Week at Interior August 11, 2023

I’m Tony Dearman, Director of the Bureau of Indian Education. This week we’re at Sherman Indian School in Riverside, California, and you’re watching This Week at Interior. 

This Week at Interior 

President Biden this week established the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni - Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. The area is considered sacred by many Tribal Nations in the Southwest, renowned for its natural, cultural, economic, scientific and historic resources, and its broad recreation opportunities. 

I made a commitment as president to prioritize respect for the Tribal sovereignty and self-determination, to honor the solemn promises the United States made to Tribal nations to fulfill federal trust and treaty obligations. I’ve pledged to keep using all that available authority — (applause) — to protect sacred Tribal lands. 

Secretary Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland made their 8th and 9th stops on The Road to Healing this week in California. The year-long tour across the country addresses the tragic history of Federal Indian Boarding Schools and provides survivors and their descendants an opportunity to share their experiences. 

Secretary Haaland traveled to Yosemite National Park this week as part of a month-long tour to celebrate the historic investments from the Great American Outdoors Act. The bipartisan law is improving visitor experiences, bolstering climate resilience and investing in the economy by creating good-paying jobs in our national parks, wildlife refuges, recreation areas and Bureau of Indian Education-funded schools. 

Interior announced over $44 million from the President’s Investing in America agenda this week to meet critical ecosystem resilience, restoration and environmental planning needs for the National Park Service in fiscal year 2023. Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz traveled to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming to highlight those investments, which will support ongoing efforts to restore habitats, address climate change impacts, and bolster park resources for years to come. 

Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau and Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton met this week with states and Tribes to discuss water infrastructure and drought resilience related to the Colorado River. This first-ever federal-Tribal-state partnership will promote information-sharing and discussion among the sovereign governments in the Basin, and part of the Department’s ongoing commitment to engage with Indigenous communities as the next set of guidelines surrounding the Colorado River are developed. 

This week, Interior also announced nearly $200 million to develop a more resilient water supply, support cooperative watershed management and safeguard aquatic ecosystems. President Biden's Investing in America agenda represents the largest investment in climate resilience in the nation’s history and is providing much-needed resources to enhance Western communities’ resilience to drought and climate change, including protecting short- and long-term sustainability. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service joined federal, state, Tribal and private partners this week for an event at Williams Creek National Fish Hatchery in Arizona to celebrate recovery efforts for the Apache trout. The Service is proposing the delisting of the fish as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The event comes as Interior celebrates the 50th anniversary of the passage of the ESA this year. 

And our social media Picture of the week, the red and white Nauset Lighthouse on the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts. Built in 1877, the “Nauset Light” is part of Cape Cod’s rich nautical history and reminds us of the Cape’s strong connection to the sea as it helps fishermen and recreational boaters navigate safely along the shore. 

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That's This Week at Interior.