Department of the Interior

The Interior Department has the seemingly divergent charge of protecting America's natural and cultural heritage, while also managing utilization of the nation's natural resources. It protects millions of acres of parks and wilderness areas, administers laws to preserve archaeological sites, and is responsible for over 55 million acres of Native American tribal lands. At the same time, DOI is the steward for hundreds of millions of acres of sub-surface minerals, as well as billions of acres of underwater energy and mineral resources.

In addition to managing about 20% of the land in the 50 states, DOI has responsibility for the United States overseas territories, through the Office of Insular Affairs, which provides federal oversight of American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. This Office also administers U.S. economic commitments to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

Although the nation's first Congress considered establishing an Interior Department back in 1789, it was not until March 3, 1849 that this Cabinet department was established with Thomas Ewing as the first Secretary of the Interior.

The current Secretary of the Interior is Deb Haaland. She has held the position since March 16, 2021. 

The Fiscal Year 2022 budget for the Executive Office of the President is $826.46M

Department-wide Programs: $15.01B 

Office of Surface Mining: $12.31B 

Bureau of Reclamation: $8.67B 

National Park Service: $7.77B 

Bureau of Indian Affairs: $6.4B 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: $5.84B 

Bureau of Land Management: $4.25B 

U.S. Geological Survey: $4.0B 

Departmental Offices: $2.41B 

Bureau of Indian Education: $2.31B 

Insular Affairs: $682.53M 

Bureau of Trust Funds Administration: $504.23M 

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement: $390.58M 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management: $252.69M 

Office of the Solicitor: $119.11M 

Central Utah Project: $90.09M 

Office of Inspector General: $76.67M 

National Indian Gaming Commission: $33.86M  

*Data derived from USASPENDING.gov (Agency Profile-DOI) 

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