Category:US National Archives series: Photographs Documenting the Secretary's Activities, and Agency Officials, Events, Programs, and Managed Sites, 2001 - 2006

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This series constitutes the Department of the Interior's central file of digital photographic assignments documenting the tenure of Secretary Gale Norton. At the core of the series, generated largely by the Secretary's Chief Photographer, Tami Heilemann, is a born-digital visual record of the Secretary's official appearances at the Interior headquarters building in Washington, D.C., at other prominent sites in and around the nation's capital, and at national parks and reserves, recreation areas, conservation areas, wildlife refuges, forests, monuments, memorials, historic landmarks, other federally-managed or federally-supported sites, and other locations of historical, cultural, or economic significance across the U.S. Extensively documented are Norton's speeches, press conferences, briefings, tours, and inspections, as well as her participation in meetings, conventions, forums, bill-signing and agreement-signing ceremonies, dedications, and commemorations.

Among appearances featured are Norton's visit to the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York City in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001; Norton's participation in the opening of canal head gates at the Klamath Falls, Oregon dam, releasing water to Klamath Basin farmers, following months of intense public debate on environmental issues (2002); the ground-blessing ceremony for a new dormitory and classroom complex at the Santa Fe Indian School in Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of several stops on Norton's major tour of Bureau of Indian Affairs-operated schools in New Mexico (2002); Norton's Congressional testimony (2003), and joint press conference with Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao (2005), on the long-running controversy over proposed oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; ceremonies marking the transfer of the Tybee Island Lighthouse near Savannah, Georgia (2002), the Point Sur Lighthouse at Point Sur, California (2004), and the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse at Annapolis, Maryland (2004) from Coast Guard custody to state, local, and private non-profit custody under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000; Norton's participation in meetings of the Tribal Leaders-Department of Interior Task Force on Trust Reform, involved in high-profile deliberations on changes in Interior management of Indian trust assets (2002); and the signing ceremony for the 30-year renewal of the Federal Grant and Agreement of Right-of-Way for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (2003).

Also featured are the official launch, with First Lady Laura Bush, of the Preserve America initiative, providing grants for preservation of historic properties, neighborhoods, and communities (2003); events at the nation's oldest wildlife refuge, the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge at Sebastian, Florida, marking the centennial of the refuge system (2003); the dedication of the Indian Memorial at the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument in Montana (2003); Norton's visit with President George W. Bush to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Thousand Oaks, California, to underscore the federal commitment to park maintenance (2003); ceremonies, on the second anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, at the Shanksville, Pennsylvania temporary memorial, honoring the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, and also marking the swearing-in of the members of the Flight 93 National Memorial Federal Advisory Commission; the signing ceremony, with President Bush and Congressional leaders, for the Healthy Forests Restoration Act (2003); the signing, at Hoover Dam, of the Colorado River Water Delivery Act, providing for reduction in California's reliance on Colorado River water (2003); events marking the centennial of the first powered flight at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, with Norton joining President Bush, actor John Travolta, and aviation celebrities such as Neil Armstrong and Harry Combs (2003); Norton's visit to the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington to assess the threat posed by Mount St. Helens (2004); the National Historical Landmark designation ceremonies for the hallowed civil rights site, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, as well as for Elvis Presley's long-time home, Graceland Mansion, in Memphis, Tennessee (2006); and the National Monument designation ceremony for New York City's African Burial Ground (2006).

Coverage of Norton's appearances also encompasses, in many cases, substantial documentation of the environments, structures, and operations viewed by the Secretary. There is attention to terrain, water, and wildlife on public lands, to the exterior and interior architectural features of historic buildings, and to the conservation, restoration, management, research, and education activities carried out by staff of the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other Interior component agencies. Along with the settings mentioned above, other featured sites range from Yosemite National Park in California to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, and from the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Florida's Everglades, to the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area near Grand Junction, Colorado, to assorted Western locales affected by massive forest fires (e.g., the 2002 Squire Peak fire in Oregon and Battle Creek fire in South Dakota, the 2003 Cedar fire in California, and the 2004 Nuttall fire in Arizona). Shown, as well, are the first two religious properties receiving federal historic preservation grants under the Save America's Treasures program: the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island and the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts.

Photographic subject-matter also reflects the Norton era emphasis on volunteerism, local initiatives, and cooperative conservation and resource management arrangements among federal, state, and local government agencies, tribal authorities, non-profit organizations, and the corporate sector. There is considerable coverage of projects and promotions sponsored by the Take Pride in America program, established to encourage volunteer cleanup, maintenance, and improvement undertakings on public lands. There is also extensive coverage of events highlighting public-private partnerships and multi-agency agreements, such as the Deschutes River, Oregon ecological protection agreement involving the Department of Interior, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Reservation, Portland General Electric, and other parties (2004); the Little Colorado River Basin agreement resolving the Zuni Tribe's water rights claims in Arizona (2004); and Wal-Mart's "Acres for America" donation program for habitat protection, in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (2005). Along with the cooperative conservation theme, the series touches on natural resource extraction activities by timber, mining, and energy development companies, with Norton shown visiting such commercial operations as the lumber plant at Seeley Lake, Montana, coal bed methane gas wells in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, and the world's largest offshore oil platform, near Ingleside, Texas.

Photographed at events with Norton are many of the Department's other senior officials, among them Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles, Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget (and later Deputy Secretary) P. Lynn Scarlett, Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Craig Manson, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Bennett Raley and successor Mark Limbaugh, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal McCaleb and successor Dave Anderson, Solicitor Sue Ellen Wooldridge, National Park Service Director Fran Mainella, Bureau of Land Management Director Kathleen Clarke, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner John Keys III, Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams and successor H. Dale Hall, U.S. Geological Survey Director Charles Groat, Minerals Management Service Director Johnnie Burton, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement Director Jeffrey Jarrett, and Take Pride in America Director Martha Allbright. Norton is shown conferring and touring with numerous other federal agency officials, members of Congress, and Governors, including such figures as Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Arizona Senator John McCain, Michigan Congressman John Dingell, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Montana Governor Judy Martz, and Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Vice President Richard B. Cheney, former President George H. W. Bush, former Secretary of Interior Stewart L. Udall, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation leaders John Berry and Max Chapman, Jr., National Park Foundation leaders Jim Maddy and Vin Cipolla, and Hollywood stars and environmental activists Bruce Willis, Clint Eastwood, and Bo Derek are among other American luminaries appearing in this series. Documented, in addition, are Norton's meetings with visiting foreign officials, including environmental ministers from Kenya (the Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai), Iraq (Mishkat Al Moumin), and Mexico (Alberto Cardenas). Coverage of the Secretary's many encounters with the public includes scattered views of demonstrators protesting Bush Administration environmental policies.