Tribal leadership in New Mexico changes fairly regularly, with most tribes changing annually, and New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman’s office approached the District to see if the Corps could help provide a location for new tribal leadership to meet and exchange information with representatives from local federal agencies.
District leadership thought it was a great idea, so the senator’s staff reached out to multiple federal agencies for a list of presenters and sent an invitation to the 19 pueblo governors inviting them to attend a meeting March 27.
“Our local Senate offices are not big enough to have a meeting of this size,” said Janelle Frederick, field representative in the senator’s office.
“Luckily, the Corps had a large conference room that was available, and the Corps also agreed to present its programs to the tribal leaders. I know how having a face that goes with a name makes for much easier communication between the tribal leaders and the federal agencies when issues arise,” Frederick said.