The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating to Native Americans,Alaska Natives,Native Hawaiians,territorial affairs,and insular areas of the United States,as well as programs related to historic preservation. About 75% of federal public land is managed by the department,with most of the remainder managed by the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. The department was created on March 3,1849. It is headquartered at the Main Interior Building,located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington,D.C.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA),also known as Indian Affairs (IA),is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to Native Americans and Alaska Natives,and administering and managing over 55,700,000 acres (225,000 km2) of reservations held in trust by the U.S. federal government for indigenous tribes. It renders services to roughly 2 million indigenous Americans across 574 federally recognized tribes. The BIA is governed by a director and overseen by the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs,who answers to the Secretary of the Interior.
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP),an independent United States federal agency,is charged with the mission to promote the preservation of the nation's diverse historic resources. The ACHP advises the President and Congress on national historic preservation policy and also provides a public forum for stakeholders and the public to influence federal agency decisions regarding federal projects and programs that affect historic properties. The ACHP promotes the importance of historic preservation to foster an understanding of the nation's heritage and the contribution that historic preservation can make to contemporary communities,along with their economic and social well-being.
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) is an American Indian and Alaska Native rights organization. It was founded in 1944 to represent the tribes and resist U.S. federal government pressure for termination of tribal rights and assimilation of their people. These were in contradiction of their treaty rights and status as sovereign entities. The organization continues to be an association of federally recognized and state-recognized Indian tribes.
Kevin K. Washburn is an American law professor,former dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law,and current Dean of the University of Iowa College of Law. He served in the administration of President Barack Obama as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Interior from 2012 to 2016. Washburn has also been a federal prosecutor,a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice,and the General Counsel of the National Indian Gaming Commission. Washburn is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation,a federally recognized Native American tribe.
Michael Lee Connor is an American politician,lawyer and engineer. He had served as the United States Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works,and served as the United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 2014 to 2017,among other positions in United States Department of the Interior.
Heather Dawn Thompson is a Lakota attorney from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. Thompson serves as the Director of the Office of Tribal Relations for the United States Department of Agriculture in the Joe Biden administration.
Joe Biden assumed office as the 46th president of the United States on January 20,2021,and his term ended on January 20,2025. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
Carlos Alberto Monje Jr. is an American government official and senior advisor to Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He served as the Under Secretary of Transportation for Policy within the Biden administration from July 2021 to April 2024.
Steven H. Fagin is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Yemen since 2022.
Patrice H. Kunesh is an American attorney,academic,and government official. Of Standing Rock Lakota descent,Kunesh has served as commissioner of the Administration for Native Americans since March 2023. She is currently the nominee to serve as Chairwoman of the National Indian Gaming Commission.
