Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Deb Haaland visited numerous sites in Maryland this week to bring awareness to the bipartisan infrastructure law’s investments in infrastructure and climate resiliency initiatives.

The law will help communities confront the climate crisis by cultivating union jobs, boosting local economies, advancing environmental justice, and investing in infrastructure projects that compliment national parks, according to a DOI press release.

“Historic trails, buildings, and water infrastructure are essential to @Interior’s work to share the rich cultural history of this country. Resources in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allow us to sustain public lands and national parks to continue to tell the story of America,” Haaland wrote on Twitter.

Secretary Haaland and U.S. Rep. David J. Trone (D-Potomac) met with local stakeholders during the visit to discuss the DOI’s pledge to environmental justice and how the infrastructure plan would make inroads on equity for communities disproportionally impacted by climate change, the release said.

“The many components of our national parks – including old trails, historic buildings and water infrastructure – are essential to not only  enhancing the visitor experience, but also to telling the rich cultural history of our nation,” Haaland said in the release. “We are committed to using the resources available to us to invest in the vast infrastructure that sustains our public lands and national parks so that we can continue to carry out both of those goals.”

Secretary Haaland said it was important that local communities tackle the climate crisis in a manner that helps historically marginalized communities.

“Every community faces the impacts of the climate crisis but not everyone has the resources to rebuild or even relocate when a climate event happens in their backyard,” Haaland said in the release. “The Biden-Harris administration recognizes that these disproportionate impacts stem from a long history of marginalization and is doing everything we can to ensure communities have the resources they need. With over $30 billion in funding for the Interior Department, the Infrastructure Law is a historic down payment that will go a long way to help achieve our environmental justice goals.”