Rice named BIA director, looks to increase economic freedom for Indians
WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of
the Interior Ryan Zinke announced on
Oct. 16 the selection of Bryan Rice, a
veteran federal administrator and citizen
of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, as
the new director of the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA), the federal agency that
coordinates government-to-government
relations with 567 federally recognized
Tribes in the United States.
“Bryan has a wealth of management
expertise and experience that will well
serve Indian Country as the BIA works to
enhance the quality of life, promote eco-
nomic opportunity and carry out the fed-
eral responsibility to protect and improve
the trust assets of American Indians,
Indian Tribes and Alaska Natives,” Zinke
said. “I have full confidence that Bryan is
the right person at this pivotal time as we
work to renew the department’s focus on
self-determination and self-governance,
give power back to the Tribes and provide
real meaning to the concept of Tribal
sovereignty.”
“Secretary Zinke’s naming of Bryan
Rice as director of the BIA brings an
accomplished individual to that post
who is well-versed in the bureau’s mission
and has extensive knowledge about its
work, particularly in the area of forestry
and combatting wildland fires,” said John
Tahsuda, acting assistant secretary –
Indian Affairs. “Bryan will be a strong
leader for the bureau and closely follow
the secretary’s plans for reforming the
BIA into a top-notch service delivery
agency for Tribes and Tribal leaders.”
“Native Americans face significant
regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles to
economic freedom and success,” Rice
said. “I am honored to accept this posi-
tion and look forward to implementing
President Trump’s and Secretary Zinke’s
regulatory reform initiative for Indian
Country to liberate Native Americans
from the bureaucracy that has held them
back economically.”
Rice, who started his new position
Oct. 16, recently led Interior’s Office of
Wildland Fire and has broad experience
leading Forestry, Wildland Fire and Tribal
programs across Interior, BIA and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
His federal government career has
spanned nearly 20 years, beginning with
service on the Helena Interagency Hot-
shot Crew for the U.S. Forest Service in
Montana. He served as a Peace Corps
volunteer in Nepal working in both
community forestry and rural develop-
ment, and supervised numerous timber
operations as a timber sale officer on the
Yakama Reservation as well as a forester
on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
Rice also served in leadership capaci-
ties internationally in Tanzania, Mexico,
Brazil and Australia for both Interior and
the U.S. Forest Service.
Rice has served in two senior execu-
tive service natural resources management
leadership positions, including as deputy
director for the BIA Office of Trust Ser-
vices in 2011-2014 and as director of for-
est management in the U.S. Forest Service
in 2014-2016.
Rice spent his school years in the
Midwest in Whitewater, Wis., and Peoria,
Ill. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree
in forestry from the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champagne and a Master of
Business Administration from the Univer-
sity of Alaska-Southeast, focusing on rural
development and transportation systems.
He is a licensed pilot and enjoys time
outside hunting and fishing.
Zinke also announced that Jeff
Rupert will be the acting director of the
Office of Wildland Fire starting Oct.
16. Rupert was the chief of the Division
of Natural Resources for the National
Wildlife Refuge System, overseeing the
Fire Management, Refuge Resource and
Private Lands programs.
He has been an active member of the
Interior Fire Executive Council for the last
several years. He is a graduate of Class
#18 from the Interior Senior Executive
Service Candidate Development Program
and holds a Bachelor of Science degree
in biology from Baker University and a
Master of Science degree in biology from
the University of Texas-Pan American.
The BIA carries out its core mis-
sion through four offices. The Office of
Indian Services operates the BIA’s General
Assistance, Disaster Relief, Indian Child
Welfare, Tribal Government, Indian Self-
Determination and Reservation Roads
programs; the Office of Justice Services
directly operates or funds law enforce-
ment, Tribal courts and detention facili-
ties on federal Indian lands; the Office
of Trust Services works with Tribes and
individual American Indians and Alaska
Natives in the management of their trust
lands, assets and resources; and the Office
of Field Operations oversees 12 regional
offices and 83 agencies that carry out the
BIA mission at the Tribal level.
In FY 2017, the BIA had 4,794
employees and a budget of $1.9 billion.
For more information about the Siletz Tribe,
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November 2017
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Siletz News
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