Office of Environmental Management

"A dialogue to build partnerships and address transportation-related issues of concern to agencies and federally-recognized Indian Tribes"

Please consult with the Department Native American Coordinator regarding any Native American coordination.

Jennifer Marshall, P.E., Director, Office of Environmental Management

Jennifer.Marshall@dot.state.fl.us

850-414-4316

Native American Tribes Currently Involved in FHWA/FDOT Consultation

Generally, correspondence between the FDOT and Native American Tribes in Florida is conducted using electronic communications. When using electronic communications, please include a read receipt. When using U.S. Mail, use certified mail return receipt. The Tribal contacts below are provided for the use of District and OEM staff. In almost all circumstances, when a Cultural Resources Assessment Survey report must be sent to a Tribe, the report will be routed through the Project Development Coordinator and the FDOT Native American Coordinator, above.

There are six federally recognized Tribes with cultural associations and interests in Florida currently involved in FHWA/FDOT consultation. For most Tribes, the contacts consist of the Tribal government and the Tribal preservation officials. For the purposes of historic preservation law, the primary Tribal contacts for OEM and the districts will be the historic preservation official(s) for each Tribe. Advanced Notifications and other general notifications are normally sent to the Tribal governments as well. Certain details regarding communications with each Tribe are noted along with the contacts associated with the consulting Tribes.

Send all communications, notification letters, and copies of Section 106 correspondence and associated documents via email to Mr. Kevin Donaldson. Avoid providing the Cultural Resources Assessment reports to the Tribal Chair except when requested by the Tribe, and do not include any information related to human remains, burials, or burial associated artifacts in any correspondence or report to the Tribal Chairman.

Please note: ONLY consult with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians on projects occurring in the Florida panhandle, west of the Apalachicola River to the Alabama State Line.  Specifically the Choctaw area of interest in Florida includes the following counties: Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, Bay, Jackson, Calhoun, and Gulf.

The preferred method of notification in the consultation process is by email with electronic attachments or the ability to electronically download applicable documents from a file transfer protocol (ftp) site.  Official Section 106 correspondence should, for formality, have the Chief as the addressee in the letter, but nothing should be submitted directly to the Chief.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s geographical area of interest in Florida does not include Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe and Collier counties. Therefore, it is unnecessary to provide the Muscogee (Creek) Nation an opportunity to comment on projects occurring in those counties. The current Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation is Ms. Corrain Loe-Zepeda. Ms. RaeLynn Butler serves as the Manager of the Historic and Cultural Preservation Department for the tribe. However, the Muscogee (Creek) Nation requested that all our Section 106 materials be provided to their general email address provided below.

Native American Coordination Information

• Pertinent Laws
• Protocol
• Contacts
• Consulting Tribes
  • The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida
  • The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
  • The Muscogee (Creek) Nation
  • The Poarch Band of Creek Indians
  • The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma
  • The Seminole Tribe of Florida
• Major Issues
• Ongoing Dialogue
• Understanding Consultation