The National Wildlife Refuge Association congratulates Representative Deb Haaland (NM-1) on her historic nomination as Secretary of the Interior. We are thrilled to welcome Rep. Haaland to this position, for which she is uniquely qualified and well prepared. As the vice chair of the Natural Resources Committee and chair of the Public Lands Subcommittee, she has been instrumental in implementing conservation policy during her tenure in Congress.

The National Wildlife Refuge System, which is administered by the Interior Department, manages 850 million acres of lands and waters. The System stretches from the islands of the Pacific Ocean to the 16 refuges in Alaska, throughout the 20 million acres in the Lower 48, to the underwater canyons and seamounts of the Atlantic and the sunny beaches and lush forests of the Caribbean. These lands and waters are the largest protected area for wildlife on Earth, and yet are drastically underfunded and understaffed.

We look forward to working with Rep. Haaland, who will be the first Native American ever to hold the position of Interior Secretary. The Refuge System by its very nature adjoins tribal lands, contains sacred sites, and provides habitat for native plants and wildlife that people depend upon, particularly in the Southwest and Alaska. We are extremely pleased to have a Secretary who values and treasures the wildlife of all Refuge System lands and waters, and will protect it for all generations of Americans.