The Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation is a Tucson, Arizona-based independent Federal agency within the Executive Branch of the United States Government, dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of America’s natural resources, promoting the principles and practices of environmental conflict resolution, and educating Native Americans and Alaska natives in the fields of health care and public policy, and helping facilitate Native Nations in their pursuit of successful nation building. The Foundation provides scholarships, fellowships, and internships, seeking future leaders across a wide spectrum of environmental fields, including business, education, engineering, health, justice, and urban planning and renewal. It also supports the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy (NNI) at the University of Arizona, which provides tribal decision makers with professional training to assist them in building economically and socially sustainable sovereign governments. In addition, the Foundation operates the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, an independent Federal program that helps parties find workable solutions to environmental disputes.
The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation was established by Congress on March 19, 1992, to honor Udall’s service in the U.S. House of Representatives, where from 1961 through 1991 a great amount of his work focused on natural resources and the environment, governmental reforms, and Native American issues. The bill that created the Foundation, which was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, came about because of efforts of two of Udall’s Arizona colleagues, Democratic Senator Dennis DeConcini, and Republican Senator John McCain. In 1988, Congress amended the Udall Foundation legislation with the Environmental Policy and Conflict Resolution Act, which created the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution as a new part of the Foundation, and in 2001 the Udall Foundation and the University of Arizona co-founded the Native Nations Institute. In January 2006 the foundation’s education team was looking for a way to commemorate the previous decade of its programs and decided to put on a yearlong “Celebration of Public Service” that would showcase some of their work, and culminate in a cross-country public service-focused biodiesel bus trip, to highlight the legacy of Morris Udall. It became the Udall Legacy Bus Tour, traveling 8,606 miles, for 54 days, to 26 cities, six national parks, and six Native American communities, sharing solutions to America’s pressing environmental and Native American issues.
In 2009, Congress enacted legislation to honor Morris’s brother, Stewart L. Udall, by adding his name to the Foundation. Stewart served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1955 until 1961, when President John F. Kennedy appointed him Secretary of the Interior. During the eight years he served in that post, he made an important impact in the environmental arena, overseeing
the addition of four parks, six national monuments, eight seashores and lakeshores, nine recreation areas, 20 historic sites, and 56 wildlife refuges to the National Park system. His best-selling book, The Quiet Crisis (1963), is said to have contributed to the emergence of the national environmental movement.
The Foundation is organized into two divisions: Educational programs, and the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution.
Among the functions of the educational programs:
- Grant undergraduate scholarships (80 in 2008) on the basis of merit for students committed to a career related to the environment, or Native Americans and Alaskan Natives committed to a career in tribal public policy or Native American health care.
- Award two yearly one-year dissertation fellowships, to cover both academic and living expenses, to doctoral candidates who are entering their final year of writing a dissertation on a topic that concerns U.S. environmental public policy and/or environmental conflict resolution.
- Administer a Native American Congressional Internship Program which each summer provides 10 weeks in Washington D.C. for 12 Native Americans and Alaskan Natives. The university juniors, seniors, or law students who apply are chosen on merit, and must have demonstrated an interest in fields related to tribal public policy, natural resource protection, or Native American education, health, justice, or economic development. Those selected are placed in Senate and House offices, committees, Cabinet departments, and the White House, to be able to observe the government decision-making process first-hand.
- Support the Native Nations Institute, which provides executive leadership training and policy analysis assistance for American Indian Tribes. The institute is part of the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona, and based on work of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. The Native Nations Institute also conducts a Native American Youth Entrepreneur Camp on the University of Arizona campus, where instructors teach the basics of getting into business, and students meet and are able to seek advice from Native American business professionals. Then near the end of the camp, at a Youth Marketplace, they get to experience running their own businesses, based on what they’ve learned in the program.
- Put on, through the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy, conferences and discussions of contemporary environmental or Native American issues.
- Present the Parks in Focus program, which gives selected young people, often under-served Boys and Girls Club members in different cities across the country, a camera and field guide, and escorts them to scenic local sites they might never explore otherwise, to instill in them a sustainable appreciation for the environment through the art of photography.
The other division of the Udall Foundation runs the U. S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, which helps entities resolve environmental conflicts involving the United States government by providing impartial third party mediation, facilitation, and assessment. It also offers training programs and referrals to environmental conflict resolution practitioners.
From the Web Site of the Udall Foundation:
Annual Report (pdf)
According to the 2010 Expenditures and Audit Report of U.S. Code Title 20, Chapter 66, the Udall Foundation specifies the following types of organizational expenditures: Up to $5,000 per fiscal year to carry out code provisions, including official receptions and representation expenses; sums determined by the Board to operate the Foundation, including salaries, administration, mediation services and other expenses, including up to $1,000 for receptions and representation; and various services provided for the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund.
The foundation’s most recent published budget accounting appears in the Udall Foundation 2010 Annual Report (pdf), which details distribution of Trust Fund expenses as follows: 29% of budget to Educational Program Support; 29% to Scholarships; 20% to the Udall Center; 15% to Administration; 4% to Parks in Focus; and 3% to Fellowships. Distributions of expenses for Udall’s U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution include: 52% to External Service Providers; 35% to Personnel; 5% to Rent and Facilities; 2% to Computing; 2% to Conferences and Meetings; 1% to Staff Outreach; and 3% to Other.
Udall Foundation FY 2011 Performance and Accountability Report (pdf)
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