Some Montana conservation groups and Indigenous leaders, including the chairwoman of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, are celebrating the nomination of New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland to lead the U.S. Department of the Interior.

President-elect Joe Biden announced Haaland's nomination on Thursday. A tribal citizen of the Laguna Pueblo, Haaland, 60, became one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress in 2018. She now serves as vice chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources and has promised to work to "promote clean energy and protect our public lands."

If confirmed by the Senate, Haaland would leave a razor-thin Democratic majority in the House and become the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency. And as interior secretary, she would take the helm of an agency that controls hundreds of millions of acres of public lands and wields influence over nearly 600 federally recognized tribes.

The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes called Haaland's nomination "a significant and historic move by the upcoming Biden administration."

"As a council, we work to ensure our issues and concerns are understood by local, state and federal branches of the government. This appointment helps our efforts to educate," CSKT Chairwoman Shelly Fyant said in a statement. “We are also excited to see this historic breakthrough. We look forward to working with Rep. Haaland."

The Interior Department's authority is broad. Bureaus within the agency are tasked with managing federal relations with tribes, administering tens of millions of acres of land and mineral rights held in trust for Native Americans and Alaska Natives, running national parks and making decisions affecting U.S. lands and waterways, wildlife, endangered species, and oil and gas and mining.

"I think that Deb Holland is a very exciting, smart pick. I know she has engaged with Montana and some of the work that has been done here, and I think she's a fantastic leader," Sandi Luckey, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, said in an interview. "Montana's outdoor recreation is a $7.1 billion industry and it supports 71,000 jobs, and I think she is a great choice to oversee our public lands."

Whitney Tawney, deputy director of Billings-based Montana Conservation Voters, called Haaland "the experienced conservation champion we need at the helm of Interior."

And Ted Koch, board chairman of Montana-based Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, said Haaland "has the experience, expertise and keen appreciation of our public lands and waters to ensure that highly consequential land and water management decisions are balanced, thoughtful and representative of the best interests of all Americans, including hunters and anglers."

In an email, Roy Loewenstein, a spokesman for U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, called Haaland's nomination "historic" and said Tester "looks forward to meeting with her to discuss the importance of protecting our public lands for future generations, supporting jobs that rely on healthy forests and public access, and upholding trust and treaty responsibilities to tribal nations."

A spokeswoman for Tester's Republican counterpart, Montana Sen. Steve Daines, did not respond to messages seeking comment.

In other historic picks announced this week, Biden nominated North Carolina environmental regulator Michael Regan to become the first Black man to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and Obama administration veteran Brenda Mallory to serve as the first Black chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Reporter Chad Sokol can be reached at 758-4434 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com