Washington DC - Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on Thursday signed an order finalizing protections for the Pactola Reservoir–Rapid Creek Watershed in the Black Hills from environmental exploitation.

Public Land Order 7956 safeguards 20,510 acres of land in the Black Hills National Forest from mining or development for the next 20 years.

The area – traditional homeland of the Indigenous Oceti Sakowin, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Arikara, Hidatsa, Mandan, and Crow Tribes – provides a critical source of drinking water for nearby Rapid City.

"The Pactola Reservoir-Rapid Creek Watershed is a treasured landscape, valued for its clean air and water, abundant recreation and ecological benefits, and sacred to multiple Tribes who call the area home," Haaland said in a statement.

"I’m proud to take action today to withdraw this area for the next 20 years, to help protect clean drinking water and ensure this special place is protected for future generations," she added.

Under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Haaland was authorized to withdraw the lands for a maximum of 20 years, with the possibility for future renewal.

Congressional action is required to withdraw the lands permanently.

Indigenous activists welcomed the Biden administration decision but said more needs to be done to protect the Black Hills.

Taylor Gunhammer, an organizer with the Indigenous-led NDN Collective, said, "The approval of the Pactola mineral withdrawal is not just a victory for Unci Maka, a safeguard for our drinking water, and generally the moral thing to do – it is also a brilliant display of cross-cultural People Power being put into action, and multiple communities asserting their right to be safe from toxic mining in the Black Hills."

"The Earth is singing today. May this be the beginning of a just future," Gunhammer added.

Bruce Ellison, a board member of the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, noted that the new order "protects only 10% of the Upper Rapid Creek watershed."

"More needs to be done to protect the water supply for Rapid Creek, Ellsworth Air Force Base, and ranching and reservation communities downstream. More citizens need to take action to protect the Black Hills," he said.