STACYVILLE, Maine (August 19, 2024) — Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz wrapped a multi-day visit to Maine this weekend where they highlighted conservation and preservation efforts underway through the National Park Service.
On Thursday, the leaders visited the Frances Perkins Homestead in Newcastle and held a community meeting to learn about the community’s vision for the care and management of the Frances Perkins Homestead, which was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2014. Frances Perkins, the first female cabinet member and longest-serving Labor Secretary, is credited as an architect of the New Deal and other programs that Americans continue to benefit from today, such as unemployment insurance and Social Security. Throughout her life, Perkins considered Newcastle and the 57-acre homestead along the Damariscotta River as her home. Community-led efforts to have the homestead designated as a national monument to be managed by the National Park Service have garnered support from local leaders, including the Governor and current and former members of the congressional delegation.
As America’s storyteller, the National Park Service helps preserve and honor important individuals and chapters of the country’s history. Since Day One of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department of the Interior has invested in efforts that tell a more complete story of our nation’s history.
On Saturday, Secretary Haaland and Assistant Secretary Estenoz joined federal, state, Tribal and community members for a celebration and ribbon cutting at Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument’s new Tekαkαpimək contact station. The new station will provide visitors a location for orientation and information through exhibits designed with Wabanaki artistry and knowledge that explain the monument’s landscape and significance. The project – a gift from Maine-based Elliotsville Foundation – represents an unprecedented partnership to incorporate Native traditions and culture into every aspect of the visitor experience. The Elliotsville Foundation built and is donating the center to the National Park Service, who will manage it as part of the monument with additional support from the National Park Foundation. These exhibits are the result of a deliberative and collaborative effort with Tribal Nations to fully honor the traditions, languages, images, kinship and ancestral representations of the land’s original stewards. The new contact station will be open to the public in 2025.
Under Secretary Haaland’s leadership, the Department has put in place policies, infrastructure, and agreements to usher in a new era of Tribal co-stewardship of public lands and waters. At the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit, Secretary Haaland and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack signed Joint Secretary’s Order 3403 (S.O. 3403) committing to Tribal and federal co-stewardship of federal lands, waters and wildlife, including through collaborative and cooperative agreements with Tribal Nations.