The "Strengthen Tribal Nations" portions of a May 28, 2021, press release from the Department of the Interior follows.

President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Makes Significant Investments in Interior Department

Proposal would restore balance on public lands and waters, infuse critical resources in Indian Country, advance environmental justice, and build a clean energy future

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden-Harris administration today submitted to Congress the President’s budget for fiscal year 2022. The Department of the Interior’s 2022 budget proposal totals $17.6 billion — an increase of $2.5 billion, or 17 percent, from the 2021 enacted level. This significant investment will help the Department address the climate crisis while creating good-paying union jobs and investing in healthy lands, waters, and economies in communities across the country.

As the Administration continues to make progress defeating the pandemic and getting our economy back on track, the President’s budget makes historic investments that will help the country build back better and lay the foundation for shared growth and prosperity for decades to come.

“The Interior Department plays an important role in the President’s plan to reinvest in the American people. From bolstering climate resiliency and increasing renewable energy, to supporting Tribal nations and advancing environmental justice, President Biden’s budget will make much-needed investments in communities and projects that will advance our vision for a robust and equitable clean energy future,” said Secretary Deb Haaland.

The 2022 budget proposal includes the two historic plans the President has already put forward — the American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan — and reinvests in education, research, public health, and other foundations of our country’s strength. At the Interior Department, the budget would:

Strengthen Tribal Nations. Underscoring the Administration’s focus on Indian Country, the 2022 budget proposal includes $4.2 billion, an increase of $727.8 million from the 2021 enacted level, across all Indian Affairs programs. These investments will support a new Indian Land Consolidation Program, which will address the problem of fractionated lands and enhance the ability of Tribal governments to plan for and adapt to climate change and to build stronger Tribal communities. The budget will also provide increases to strengthen Tribal natural resource programs, Tribal public safety, and efforts to provide leadership and direction for cross-departmental and interagency work involving missing and murdered American Indian and Alaska Native peoples.

For more information on the President’s FY 2022 Budget, please visit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.

Cover photo by U.S. Department of the Interior:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/usinterior/51133429926/