Mission
Promote and enhance government-to-government relationships between Wisconsin’s 11 federally recognized tribal governments and the State of Wisconsin. Respect and recognize the individual sovereignty of the tribes and the state in the development and operation of a safe and efficient transportation system that will foster and support current and future land and economic development while protecting the natural, cultural, and traditional environment.
Roles/responsibilities
Tribal Affairs is administered by the Division of Transportation System Development (DTSD), but serves the entire Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT). Tribal Affairs also works with other State of Wisconsin agencies, including the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Tribal Affairs consists of a program manager, a project manager and five regional tribal liaisons.
The Tribal Affairs program manager implements the government-to-government relationship with tribes at the state level. The program manger also serves as a primary point of contact for tribal elected officials, regional tribal liaisons, WisDOT staff, other State of Wisconsin agencies and the Great Lakes Intertribal Council (GLITC).
The Tribal Affairs project manager supervises the delivery of the various WisDOT tribal programs, including the WisDOT Inter-Tribal Task Force (ITTF), Tribal Labor Advisory Committee (TLAC), Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPO) Program, National Summer Transportation Institute (NSTI) and the Tribal Highway Construction Skills Training (Tribal HCST) program.
Regional tribal liaisons are assigned to one of the five regional offices (North Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest). Regional tribal liaisons are the first point of contact for all transportation issues impacting tribal communities, and strive to develop trusting and mutually respectful relationships.