WASHINGTON, DC—President Barack Obama will nominate Sally Jewell, the chief executive officer of Recreational Equipment Inc., to run the Interior Department, according to news reports.

Jewell led REI in 2000. She also has 19 years of commercial banking experience and has worked for Mobil Oil Corporation in Oklahoma and Colorado.

Jewell currently serves as a regent for the University of Washington. She was nominated twice to the post by tribal-friendly governors but otherwise does not appear to have any direct experience with Indian Country.

If confirmed, Jewell would be the second woma...