The U.S. Department of the Interior is a federal executive department charged with stewardship of the nation’s natural resources, public lands, and cultural heritage. It administers national parks and refuges, manages energy and mineral development on federal lands and waters, oversees water and wildlife conservation, carries federal trust responsibilities for American Indian and Alaska Native tribes, and conducts earth science and natural hazard research.
Land and public-lands management; national park and recreation administration; wildlife and habitat conservation; endangered species and migratory bird protections; permitting and oversight of onshore and offshore energy and mineral leasing; water and watershed management; tribal governance and federal trust responsibilities; cultural and historic resource protection; natural resources revenue collection and distribution; scientific research and natural hazard monitoring.
Primarily funded through annual federal appropriations from Congress, supplemented by user and recreation fees, royalties and rents from energy and mineral leases, designated trust funds and special accounts, and interagency reimbursements.
Principal bureaus and offices include the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Office of Natural Resources Revenue, and Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement; senior leadership includes the Secretary of the Interior and deputy secretaries.
Federal executive department (U.S. government)
