The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an

executive department The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

of the

U.S. federal government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

responsible for the management and conservation of most

federal lands Federal lands are lands in the United States owned and managed by the federal government. Pursuant to the Property Clause of the United States Constitution ( Article 4, section 3, clause 2), Congress has the power to retain, buy, sell, and regu ...

and

natural resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

. It also administers programs relating to Native Americans,

Alaska Natives Alaska Natives (also known as Native Alaskans, Alaskan Indians, or Indigenous Alaskans) are the Indigenous peoples of Alaska that encompass a diverse arena of cultural and linguistic groups, including the Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tli ...

Native Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was settled at least 800 years ago by Polynesian ...

, territorial affairs, and

insular area In the law of the United States, an insular area is a U.S.-associated jurisdiction that is not part of a U.S. state or the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia. This includes fourteen Territories of the United States, U.S. territories adminis ...

s of the United States, as well as programs related to historic preservation. About 75% of federal public land is managed by the department, with most of the remainder managed by the

Department of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

's Forest Service. The department was created on March 3, 1849. It is headquartered at the

Main Interior Building The Main Interior Building, officially known as the Stewart Lee Udall Department of the Interior Building, located in Washington, D.C., is the headquarters of the United States Department of the Interior. Located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood ...

, located at 1849 C Street NW in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

The department is headed by the

secretary of the interior Secretary of the Interior may refer to: * Secretary of the Interior (Mexico) * Interior Secretary of Pakistan * Secretary of the Interior and Local Government (Philippines) * United States Secretary of the Interior See also

*Interior ministry ...

, who reports directly to the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

and is a member of the president's

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. The current interior secretary is

Doug Burgum Douglas James Burgum ( ; born August 1, 1956) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the 55th United States Secretary of the Interior, United States secretary of the interior since February 1, 2025, under President Donald Tru ...

, who was sworn in on February 1, 2025. As of mid-2004, the department managed 507 million acres (2,050,000 km²) of surface land, or about one-fifth of the land in the United States. It manages 476 dams and 348

reservoirs A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of water, interrup ...

through the

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it ...

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

s, monuments, historical sites, etc. through the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

, and 544 national

wildlife refuge A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geolog ...

s through the

Fish and Wildlife Service A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed fis ...

. The largest land management agency is the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

, managing about one-eighth of the land in the United States. Despite its name, the Department of the Interior has a different role from that of the interior ministries of other nations, which are usually responsible for police matters and internal security. In the United States, national security and immigration functions are performed by the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

primarily and the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

secondarily. The Department of the Interior has often been humorously called "the Department of Everything Else" because of its broad range of responsibilities.

History

Formation of the department

A department for domestic concern was first considered by the

1st United States Congress The 1st United States Congress, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791, during the first two years of George Washington's presidency, first at Federal Hall ...

in 1789, but those duties were placed in the

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...

. The idea of a separate domestic department continued to percolate for a half-century and was supported by presidents from

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

James Polk James Knox Polk (; November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. A protégé of Andrew Jackson and a member of the Democratic Party, he was an advocate of Jacksonian democracy an ...

. The 1846–48

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

gave the proposal new steam as the responsibilities of the federal government grew. Polk's

secretary of the treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Robert J. Walker Robert James Walker (July 19, 1801November 11, 1869) was an American lawyer, economist and politician. An active member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. Senate from Mississippi from 1835 until 1845, as Secretary of t ...

, became a vocal champion of creating the new department. In 1849, Walker stated in his annual report that several federal offices were placed in departments with which they had little to do. He noted that the

United States General Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government responsible for Public domain (land), public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 ...

had little to do with the Treasury and also highlighted the Indian Affairs office, part of the Department of War, and the

Patent Office A patent office is a governmental or intergovernmental organization which controls the issue of patents. In other words, "patent offices are government bodies that may grant a patent or reject the patent application based on whether the applicati ...

, part of the

. Walker argued that these and other bureaus should be brought together in a new Department of the Interior. A bill authorizing its creation of the department passed the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

on February 15, 1849, and spent just over two weeks in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The department was established on March 3, 1849 (), the eve of President

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

's inauguration, when the Senate voted 31 to 25 to create the department. Its passage was delayed by Democrats in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

who were reluctant to create more

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

posts for the incoming Whig administration to fill. The first

*Interior ministry ...

was

Thomas Ewing Thomas Ewing Sr. (December 28, 1789October 26, 1871) was a National Republican and Whig politician from Ohio. He served in the U.S. Senate and also served as the fourteenth secretary of the treasury and the first secretary of the interior. ...

. Several of the domestic concerns the department originally dealt with were gradually transferred to other departments. For example, the Department of Interior was responsible for water pollution control prior to the creation of the

Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency may refer to the following government organizations: * Environmental Protection Agency (Queensland), Australia * Environmental Protection Agency (Ghana) * Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland) * Environmenta ...

. Other agencies became separate departments, such as the Bureau of Agriculture, which later became the

. However, land and natural resource management, American Indian affairs, wildlife conservation, and territorial affairs remain the responsibilities of the Department of the Interior.

Controversies

Secretary of the Interior

Albert B. Fall Albert Bacon Fall (November 26, 1861November 30, 1944) was a United States senator from New Mexico and United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior under President of the United States, President Warren G. Harding who becam ...

was implicated in the

Teapot Dome The Teapot Dome scandal was a political corruption scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Warren G. Harding. It centered on Interior Secretary Albert B. Fall, who had leased United States Navy, Navy petroleum re ...

scandal of 1921. He was convicted of bribery in 1929, and served one year in prison, for his part in the controversy. A major factor in the scandal was a transfer of certain oil leases from the jurisdiction of the

Department of the Navy Navy Department or Department of the Navy may refer to: * United States Department of the Navy The United States Department of the Navy (DON) is one of the three military departments within the United States Department of Defense. It was esta ...

to that of the Department of the Interior, at Fall's behest. Secretary of the Interior

James G. Watt James Gaius Watt (January 31, 1938 – May 27, 2023) was an American lawyer, lobbyist, and civil servant who served as U.S. Secretary of the Interior in the Ronald Reagan administration from 1981 to 1983. He was described as "anti-environmenta ...

faced criticism for his alleged hostility to environmentalism, for his support of the development and use of federal lands by foresting, ranching, and other commercial interests, and for banning

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

from playing a 1983 Independence Day concert on the

National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...

out of concerns of attracting "an undesirable element". His 1983 resignation was prompted by a speech in which he said about his staff: "I have a black, a woman, two Jews and a cripple. And we have talent."556. James G Watt, US Secretary of the Interior.
"Simpson's Contemporary Quotations" (1988) via ''bartleby.com'' and

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

. Under the Administration of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, the Interior Department's maintenance backlog climbed from $5 billion to $8.7 billion, despite Bush's campaign pledges to eliminate it completely. Of the agency under Bush's leadership, Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney has cited a "

culture of fear Culture of fear (or climate of fear) is the concept which describes the pervasive feeling of fear in a given group, often due to actions taken by leaders. The term was popularized by Frank Furedi and has been more recently popularized by the A ...

" and of "ethical failure." Devaney has also said, "Simply stated, short of a crime, anything goes at the highest levels of the Department of Interior." Cart, Julie
"Bush legacy leaves uphill climb for U.S. parks"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', January 25, 2009. Launched in June of 2021, th
Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative
intended to investigate federal Indian boarding school policies and multi-generational impacts of trauma on American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children. Released in two volumes, the three year investigation produced the first report in May 2022 and the second and final volume in June 2024. The final report details the severe trauma and cultural disruption inflicted on Native American communities through these schools, which operated from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. It highlights the systemic abuse and neglect endured by students, finding 973 children died at the schools and calls for accountability and measures to address the ongoing impact on Native American families and communities to include working closely with tribal nations on the identification and repatriation of the remains.

American Indians

Within the Interior Department, the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

handles some federal relations with American Indians, while others are handled by the Office of Special Trustee. The current acting assistant secretary for Indian affairs is Bryan Newland, an enrolled member of the

Bay Mills Indian Community The Bay Mills Indian Community (BMIC) (Ojibwe: Gnoozhekaaning, lit. "Place of the Pike"), is an Indian reservation forming the land base of one of the many federally recognized Sault Ste. Marie bands of Ojibwe. The largest section of the reservati ...

. The department has been the subject of disputes over proper accounting for American Indian Trusts set up to track the income and distribution of monies that are generated by the trust and specific American Indian lands, which the government leases for fees to companies that extract oil, timber, minerals, and other resources. Several cases have sought an accounting of such funds from departments within the Interior and Treasury (such as the Minerals Management Service), in what has been a 15-year-old lawsuit. Some American Indian nations have also sued the government over water-rights issues and their treaties with the US. In 2010 Congress passed the Claims Settlement Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-291), which provided $3.4 billion for the settlement of the ''

Cobell v. Salazar ''Cobell v. Salazar'' (previously ''Cobell v. Kempthorne'' and ''Cobell v. Norton'' and ''Cobell v. Babbitt'') is a class-action lawsuit brought by Elouise Cobell ( Blackfeet) and other Native American representatives in 1996 against two depa ...

'' class-action trust case and four American Indian water rights cases.Warren, James
"A Victory for Native Americans?"
, ''The Atlantic'', 7 June 2010. On March 16, 2021,

Deb Haaland Debra Anne Haaland (; born December 2, 1960) is an American politician who served as the 54th United States secretary of the interior from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. representative for New M ...

, serving at that time as a member of Congress for New Mexico, took the oath of office as secretary, becoming the first American Indian to lead an executive department, and the third woman to lead the department.

Operating units

*Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget **Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs ***Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance ***Office of International Affairs ***Office of Native Hawaiian Relations ***Office of Restoration and Damage Assessment ***Office of Policy Analysis ***National Invasive Species Council **Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget, Finance, Performance and Acquisition ***Office of Budget ***Office of Financial Management ***Office of Planning and Performance Management ***Business Integration Office dministers the Financial and Business Management System (FBMS)***Office of Acquisition and Property Management ***Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization **Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Capital and Diversity ***Office of Human Resources ***Office of Occupational Safety and Health ***Office of Strategic Employee and Organizational Development ***Office of Civil Rights **Deputy Assistant Secretary for Technology, Information and Business Services ***Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution ***Appraisal and Valuation Services Office ***Interior Business Center ***Office of Hearings and Appeals ***Office of Facilities and Administrative Services ***Office of the Chief Information Officer **Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Safety, Resources Protection and Emergency Services (DAS-PRE) *** Office of Emergency Management (OEM) ***Office of Law Enforcement and Security (OLES) ***Office of Wildland Fire ***Office of Aviation Services (OAS) ***Interagency Borderlands Coordinator **Deputy Assistant Secretary for Natural Resources Revenue Management ***Office of Natural Resources Revenue * Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks **

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

*Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs **Deputy Assistant Secretary for Management ***Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) ***Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) ***Office of Human Capital Management (OHCM) ***Office of Planning and Policy Analysis (OPPA) ***Office of Facilities, Environmental and Cultural Resources (OFECR) **Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Economic Development ***Office of Indian Energy and Economic Development (IEED) ***Office of Indian Gaming (OIG) ***Office of Self-Governance (OSG) **

(BIA) ***Office of Indian Services (OIS) ***Office of Field Operations (OFO) ***Office of Justice Services (OJS) ***Office of Trust Services (OTS) **

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs that directs and manages education functions. Formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs ...

(BIE) **Office of External Affairs ***Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs (OCLA) ***Office of Public Affairs (OPA) **Office of Federal Acknowledgment (OFA) **Office of Regulatory Management (ORM) *Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management **

Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is a branch of the United States Department of the Interior. It is the federal agency entrusted with the implementation and enforcement of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamatio ...

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior, established in 2010 by Secretarial Order. On May 19, 2010, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed a Secretarial Order dividing t ...

Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE "Bessie") is an agency under the United States Department of the Interior. Established in 2011, BSEE is an agency responsible for improving safety and ensuring environmental protection ...

*Assistant Secretary for Water and Science **

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

**Central Utah Project Completion Act Office *Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs **

Office of Insular Affairs The Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) is a unit of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees federal administration of several United States insular areas. It is the successor to the Bureau of Insular Affairs of the War Departm ...

**Office of International Affairs **Ocean, Great Lakes and Coastal Activities Program Office *Solicitor **Office of the Solicitor (SOL) *

Office of the Inspector General In the United States, Office of Inspector General (OIG) is a generic term for the oversight division of a List of federal agencies in the United States, federal or state agency aimed at preventing inefficient or unlawful operations within their p ...

(OIG) **Office of General Counsel **Assistant Inspector General for Investigations ***Office of Investigations **Assistant Inspector General for Audits, Inspections, and Evaluations ***Office of Audits, Inspections, and Evaluations **Assistant Inspector General for Management ***Office of Management **Associate Inspector General for External Affairs **Associate Inspector General for Whistleblower Protection **Strategy Management Office **Associate Inspector General for Communications *Chief Information Officer *Special Trustee for American Indians * Federal Executive Boards *

Interior Museum The Interior Museum is a museum operated by the United States Department of the Interior and housed at the department's headquarters at the Stewart Lee Udall Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on the first floor. When the Interior Muse ...

National Indian Gaming Commission The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC; ) is a United States federal regulatory agency within the Department of the Interior. Congress established the agency pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988. The commission is the only ...

(NIGC)

Awards

DOI Convocation Honor Award is the most prestigious recognition that can be granted by the department. The following awards are presented at the Honor Awards Convocation: *Safety and Health Award of Excellence & Aviation Safety Award *Distinguished Service Award *Citizen's Award for Bravery *Valor Award

Regions

In 2018, DOI established 12 organizational regions to be used across the department. These superseded the previous 49 regions used across 8 agencies.

References

External links

U.S. Department of the Interior records
are archived at the

American Heritage Center The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's repository of manuscripts, rare books, and the university archives. Its collections focus on Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West (including politics, settlement, Native Americans, and W ...

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

. *
Department of the Interior
on

USAspending.gov USAspending.gov is a database of spending by the United States federal government. History Around the time of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006's passage, OMB Watch, a government watchdog group, was developing a ...

Department of the Interior
in the ''

Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the government gazette, official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every wee ...

'' *
The Department of Everything Else: Highlights of Interior History

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', September 10, 2008 {{Authority control 1849 establishments in the United States Government agencies established in 1849

Interior Interior may refer to: Arts and media * ''Interior'' (Degas) (also known as ''The Rape''), painting by Edgar Degas * ''Interior'' (play), 1895 play by Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck * ''The Interior'' (novel), by Lisa See * Interior de ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...