The time to send a message to the Biden transition team is now, and while the Department of Interior doesn’t generate the kind of headlines that, say, Treasury or Attorney General, do, it’s vitally important. 500 million acres of land across the United States, or about one-fifth of the entire U.S. landmass. In addition to administering the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior manages vast oil and gas resources, enforces endangered species programs, and oversees wildlife refuges. Rep. Haaland is the ideal candidate to restore the Department of Interior after 4 years of polluter-friendly mismanagement under the Trump administration.

To nominate Representative Deb Haaland, a 35th-generation New Mexican, as Secretary of DOI wouldn’t just be the right thing to do. It would also be very popular.

Nominating a Native American as Secretary of the DOI has 75% support from likely bipartisan voters, according to Data for Progress research.

DOI manages tens of millions of acres of indigenous lands and the nation's natural resources, and it’s charged with honoring commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities. Climate change has a disproportionate impact on these lands.

Interior has not only historically failed Indigenous communities, but in the last four years Trump’s DOI has assaulted our public lands by opening up wildlife preserves and national monuments to oil drilling.

But that could change if Rep. Haaland was in charge. The Biden Administration might need a push on this because they have so many things to fix in their first year and they will be fighting a lot of uphill battles.