Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has named University of Colorado Law School Professor Sarah Krakoff deputy solicitor for parks and wildlife, a key role on the U.S. Department of the Interior leadership team.
In this role, Krakoff will represent the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service and work with Solicitor Robert Anderson and the other deputy solicitors to fulfill Haaland’s mission for the Department of the Interior.
“As the Interior Department continues its work to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time, these talented and accomplished leaders will play a key role in helping advance the Department’s mission,” Haaland said in an April 30 news release. “I am thrilled to have these new team members join us at the Interior Department and look forward to working together to pursue a clean energy future.”
“I am honored and could not be more excited to serve Secretary Haaland during this historic time in the Department of the Interior,” Krakoff said.
Krakoff, who joined the Colorado Law faculty in 1999, is Moses Lasky Professor of Law. She is a nationally recognized expert in Native American law, natural resources law, and environmental justice.
Krakoff is a past recipient of CU Boulder’s Hazel Barnes Prize, the school’s highest faculty honor recognizing distinguished scholarship and teaching, and the Chase Community Service Award for her public service work with low-income communities.
She founded and directed the Acequia Assistance Project, which provides free representation to low-income farmers in the San Luis Valley. Before joining the Colorado Law tenure-track faculty, she directed the American Indian Law Clinic and secured permanent university funding to ensure the clinic's future.
Krakoff earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley. She began her legal career at DNA-Peoples Legal Services on the Navajo Nation, where she initiated its Youth Law Project with an Equal Justice Works fellowship.