02.26.13

Hoeven Meets with Interior Secretary Nominee Jewell

Encourages Her to Work With Spirit Lake Tribe, BIA on Social Services Issues, Take an All-of-the-Above Approach to Energy Development

WASHINGTON – In a meeting today with Sally Jewell, President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Ken Salazar as Interior secretary, Senator John Hoeven asked her to work with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Spirit Lake Tribe to address child protective services issues on the Spirit Lake Reservation.

“If confirmed as Interior secretary, Ms. Jewell will be responsible for some of the nation’s most important agencies, including the Bureau of Indian Affairs,” Hoeven said. “She needs to work with senior BIA officials and tribal leaders to give the community assurance that concerns about children on the reservation are being addressed. She also needs to ensure there are adequate law enforcement and BIA investigators in all tribal communities, including the Three Affiliated Tribes on the Fort Berthold Reservation, which is experiencing tremendous growth as a result of energy development.”

Hoeven also sought assurances that Jewell plans to take a true all-of-the-above approach to energy development on public lands, and at the same time, promote the recreational development of resources in a balanced way. He said energy development on private land has grown but is lagging on public lands owing to bureaucracy and over-regulation. It’s essential, he said, that the Bureau of Land Management streamline and simplify the oil and gas permitting process so that the rules are clear, fair and certain, enabling development to move forward and create jobs and economic activity.

Jewell brings experience as an engineer, banker and businesswoman to the job, a background that includes working with both traditional and renewable energy projects.

“I told Ms. Jewell that it’s vital she support an approach to land management that empowers private investment to develop the technologies that will create more energy with better environmental stewardship,” Hoeven said. “That’s the key not only to creating jobs and lifting up our economy, but also to securing our energy future and reducing our reliance on Middle Eastern oil.”