New Mexico Conservation Leaders Congratulate Deb Haaland

NEW MEXICO, STATEWIDE - Conservation and environmental groups across New Mexico are expressing enthusiasm and excitement following the U.S. Senate’s vote to confirm U.S. Representative Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

Haaland will serve as the first Native American Cabinet secretary and the first Indigenous leader to oversee relationships with tribal nations after generations of abuse, mistrust, and broken promises. Haaland’s leadership represents a monumental change from the two previous Interior secretaries who served during the Trump administration.

New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Executive Director Jesse Deubel said:

“This is a proud day for our country. There is a lot of work to do, and a lot of bad policy from the previous administration to undo. The confirmation of Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary represents a huge step forward in common-sense land management and energy policy that will be good for families, sportsmen and sportswomen, our youth, our natural world, and the economy. Hunters and anglers in New Mexico deserve a public lands manager that represents our values.”

New Mexico Wild, Executive Director Mark Allison said:

“The Biden-Harris Administration has selected a fierce defender of public lands to lead Interior into a better future. As competing climate and mass extinction crises worsen, Secretary Haaland is the perfect choice to safeguard our wild places. During her tenure in Congress, Secretary Haaland was a central figure in efforts to protect the Greater Chaco Region from encroaching oil and gas development and helped shepherd a federal public lands package that created 13 new wilderness areas in New Mexico. We know she is the right leader for this critical time and she will bring the same effectiveness to the protection and management of our nation’s public lands in her new role.

Conservation Voters New Mexico, Executive Director Demis Foster said:

“Secretary Haaland’s appointment marks a clean break with the corrupt and dysfunctional Interior Department leadership during the Trump administration. This is a hopeful time again for the country and I am confident that Secretary Haaland will provide bold, visionary leadership in this role, and help put us on a sustainable and equitable path moving forward.”

Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, Executive Director Ángel Peña said:

“Deb Haaland has proven herself to be the public lands champion we deserve. From her fighting to protect Chaco Canyon here in New Mexico, to her push in Congress to require environmental justice impact reports, to her work to safeguard national monuments - Deb Haaland is a fighter for what is right and that’s what’s needed after four years of reverse momentum in terms of our environment and public lands under the previous administration.”

Pueblo Action Alliance, Alliance Director Julia Bernal said:

“The global climate crisis is attributed to settler colonialism and the exploitation of natural resources cultivated from stolen Indigenous landscapes and the mismanagement of those resources. There needs to be a paradigm shift and having a Pueblo Indigenous feminist perspective in this cabinet position could instill a lot of hope for meaningful tribal consultation and more importantly tribal consent. Deb Haaland will bring that worldview into land and water management practices that will work towards a just transition to a cleaner energy economy and more equitable approaches to better frontline and Indigenous communities who have suffered from the presence of the oil and gas industry. Many of the agencies under DOI deal with tribal affairs and historically haven't done an efficient or respectful job of including sovereign tribal nations. Places like Chaco Canyon and Bears Ears and the waterways that supply Indigenous people in the Southwest could have longer standing chances if they are managed through a Pueblo Indigenous feminist perspective that implement core values like respect and reciprocity and give personhood to our waterways.”

Patrick Nolan, Executive Director of Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks said:

“We offer our collective congratulations to Secretary Haaland. Her appointment as the first Native American to head this agency is an important step to acknowledging the historic and present pain that is a part of our public lands. This confirmation is a truly historic moment. We share Secretary Haaland’s vision to ensure equitable access to our public lands and her commitment to protect 30% of public lands by 2030. The time for bold solutions to our climate crisis is now and in her time in Congress she demonstrated the boldness we need.”

Continental Divide Trail Coalition, Executive Director Teresa Martinez said:

“In Secretary Deb Haaland we have a fierce protector of our planet, and a welcome change in how the Department of the Interior will manage our public lands. Gateway communities in New Mexico and across the country will benefit from her balanced, cooperative approach to managing the multitude of priorities for our public lands that will protect the very best parts of our pristine scenic, natural, cultural, and historic treasures for future generations.”

Partnership for Responsible Business, Executive Director Alexandra Merlino said:

“We have long needed a leader to facilitate a just transition to a new energy economy, and to help steer our country away from impending climate disaster, and Secretary Deb Haaland is that leader. Clean air and water, healthy communities, and a vibrant outdoor recreational industry is what we can look forward to.”

As DOI Secretary, Haaland is expected to follow the lead of President Biden in implementing aggressive executive actions to curb oil and gas development on public lands and to help design and implement a framework to protect 30 percent of the nation’s lands and waters by 2030.