Government 101: What Does the Secretary of the Interior Do?

The secretary of the interior is the chief executive of the US Department of the Interior, a cabinet department that oversees the use and conservation of federal lands. The secretary is nominated by a president (often while they are still president-elect) and confirmed for the office by a majority vote in the US Senate.

In consultation with Congress and the White House, the secretary of the interior manages use of public lands, prevents exploitation of natural resources, maintains national parks and national monuments, and implements other various forms of environmental protection.

The overwhelming majority of federal land is located in western states (particularly Alaska). Therefore, it is customary for the secretary of the interior to hail from the west. Nonetheless, highly influential interior secretaries have hailed from states like Wisconsin and New York, and the longest-serving secretary, Harold Ickes, hailed from Illinois.

Under the guidance of the secretary of the interior, the federal government operates many agencies related to the country's public lands. These include:

• National Park Service: Among other sites, the NPS manages national parks, national monuments, national recreation areas, and national historic landmarks. It also maintains the National Register of Historic Places.
• Bureau of Land Management: The bureau oversees the use and leasing of US public land, which can be used for oil and gas extraction, mining, and ranching, among other activities.
• Fish and Wildlife Service: The FWS helps manage American fisheries, protect endangered species, and maintain coastal habitats and bird migration routes.
• Bureau of Reclamation: This sector of the Interior Department deals with dams and waterway management.
• US Geological Survey: The USGS was founded to make thorough maps of US territory, but it has expanded to provide scientific data and updates on conditions throughout the country.
• Bureau of Indian Affairs: The BIA helps manage US relations with sovereign Native Americans and Indigenous groups in Alaska living within the borders of the United States. Officially, 55.7 million acres of land are held in trust by the United States for Native Americans, and the Interior Department must uphold its trust responsibilities.
• Office of Insular Affairs: The OIA is charged with coordinating federal government policy in the island communities of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

The secretary of the interior is assisted in their duties by many deputies and assistants, including the deputy secretary of the interior; assistant secretary for policy, management, and budget; assistant secretary for Indian affairs; assistant secretary for land and minerals management; solicitor; and inspector general.

Secretaries of the interior often serve as reflections of the president's view on public lands and natural resources. Some of the persons to most recently hold the position include:

• Ken Salazar and Sally Jewell (Obama Administration): During the administration of Democrat Barack Obama, the position was held by Ken Salazar (a former senator from Colorado) and Sally Jewell (a private sector environmentalist known for being the CEO of the outdoor brand REI). During their respective times in office, Salazar tried to reform mining and petroleum operations to minimize environmental impact, and Jewell focused on land preservation, among other areas.
• Ryan Zinke (Trump Administration): When presidential power shifted to Republican Donald Trump, the position went to Ryan Zinke, a congressman who had expressed skepticism about humans' role in climate change, and later David Bernhardt, an oil industry lobbyist. Accordingly, the department's priorities changed during the Trump Administration, with a strong emphasis on mining and oil extraction on public lands.
• Deb Haaland (Biden Administration): In 2021, US President Joe Biden made history by making New Mexico representative Deb Haaland the first Native American nominee to lead the Interior Department. Haaland was confirmed to the post in March 2021, becoming the first Native American cabinet secretary in US history.

In 2000, under Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, the United States Department of the Interior issued what it deemed to be "trust principles" with the Indigenous tribes that occupied land managed by the federal government.

Many of the western states in the US contain large swaths of tribal land, owned by First Nations such as the Laguna Pueblo, the Apache, and the Aleuts. Some of these peoples occupy areas that are equally coveted by environmentalists and industry forces, such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, which is partly occupied by the Iñupiat people. Since the issuance of the trust principles, interior secretaries (and lawmakers in general) have sought to be more solicitous of Indigenous perspectives when making decisions about these lands.

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