Deb Haaland Secretary at U.S. Department of Interior | Official website
STACYVILLE, Maine — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz concluded a multi-day visit to Maine this weekend, focusing on conservation and preservation efforts through the National Park Service.
On Thursday, the officials visited the Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle. They held a community meeting to discuss the vision for managing the homestead, designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2014. Frances Perkins, recognized as the first female cabinet member and longest-serving Labor Secretary, is known for her role in developing New Deal programs like unemployment insurance and Social Security. Throughout her life, Perkins regarded Newcastle and its 57-acre homestead along the Damariscotta River as her home. Community-led initiatives to designate the homestead as a national monument managed by the National Park Service have gained support from local leaders, including the Governor and current and former members of Congress.
"The National Park Service helps preserve and honor important individuals and chapters of our country’s history," stated an official release. The Department of the Interior has invested in efforts to tell a more comprehensive story of America’s history since Day One of the Biden-Harris administration.
On Saturday, Haaland and Estenoz joined federal, state, Tribal, and community members for a celebration at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument's new Tekαkαpimək contact station. The new facility will offer visitors orientation and information through exhibits designed with Wabanaki artistry that explain the monument's landscape and significance. The project—donated by Maine-based Elliotsville Foundation—represents a partnership incorporating Native traditions into every aspect of visitor experience. The Elliotsville Foundation built and is donating the center to the National Park Service, which will manage it with additional support from the National Park Foundation. These exhibits result from collaborative efforts with Tribal Nations to honor traditions, languages, images, kinship, and ancestral representations of original land stewards. The contact station will open to the public in 2025.
Under Haaland’s leadership, policies promoting Tribal co-stewardship of public lands have been implemented. At the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit, Haaland and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack signed Joint Secretary's Order 3403 (S.O. 3403), committing to Tribal-federal co-stewardship of federal lands through collaborative agreements with Tribal Nations.
