Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs to Address National Tribal Road Conference Sponsored by Colorado State

The Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs will address the fourth annual National Tribal Road Conference sponsored by Colorado State University Oct. 30-Nov 1 in Albuquerque N.M. The conference will provide training opportunities for people involved with developing, advising or managing tribal road systems.

Neal A. McCaleb, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, is the highest-ranking Native American Indian in President George W. Bush’s administration. As an entrepreneur, McCaleb started his own engineering and construction companies in 1961 to provide services to public and private clients, including over 30 tribes and tribal development authorities. In 1987, McCaleb was appointed to serve as the first secretary of transportation in Oklahoma. He also has been instrumental in the development of a $3 billion dollar road program in Oklahoma, the largest program of its kind in the state’s history.

Colorado State University’s Tribal Technical Assistance Program is coordinating the conference, which brings together elected officials, engineers, transportation planners, federal and state transportation departments and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The conference will cover topics including managing tribal road programs, environmental streamlining and pedestrian and bicycle safety.

In 1992, Colorado State was selected to run TTAP, one of four national centers designed to provide access to technology transfer, training and research for Tribal governments on local, regional, and national transportation issues. The goals of the program are to assist American Indian Tribal governments by increasing their technical capabilities in transportation and to expand their workforces to effectively address their transportation needs.

Ron Hall, director of TTAP at Colorado State, was recently appointed as the chairman of the new Committee on Native American Transportation Issues in Washington, D.C.

The Institute for Transportation Management, run by Jim Francis, professor of management in the College of Business at Colorado State, also will provide consultation and technical assistance at the conference.