It’s the 12 Days of Ballotpedia! Your gift powers the trusted, unbiased information voters need heading into 2026. Donate now!
U.S. Department of the Interior
| Department of the Interior | |
| Secretary: | Ryan Zinke |
| Year created: | 1849 |
| Official website: | DOI.gov |
The Department of the Interior is a United States executive department established in 1849. The department was formed to protect and manage the nation's natural resources and cultural heritage.[1]
The department oversees various federal agencies including: the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey.[2]
Ryan Zinke is the current secretary of the Interior. On December 15, 2018, President Donald Trump announced that Zinke would be leaving his position as Secretary of the Interior at the end of 2018.[3]
History
The Office of the Interior was formed in 1849 to protect and manage the nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage. The following is a list of important dates in the department's history:[4]
- 1869: Hayden expedition began geological survey of Western territories
- 1872: Yellowstone National Park established by Congress
- 1879: U.S. Geological Survey established
- 1903: First National Wildlife Refuge established at Pelican Island, Florida
- 1916: National Park Service established by President Woodrow Wilson
- 1940: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service created from agency merging
- 1982: Minerals Management Service established for mineral revenue collection and offshore land management
Mission
The Department of the Interior website states the mission:
| “ | The Department of the Interior protects and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage; provides scientific and other information about those resources; and honors its trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities.[5] | ” |
| —Department of the Interior[1] | ||
Leadership
Ryan Zinke is the current secretary of the Interior.
| Secretaries of the Interior Full History | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretary of the Interior | Years in office | Nominated by | Confirmation vote | |||||
| Thomas Ewing | 1849-1850 | Zachary Taylor | ||||||
| Thomas M.T. McKennan | 1850-1850 | Millard Fillmore | ||||||
| Alexander H.H. Stuart | 1850-1853 | Millard Fillmore | ||||||
| Robert McClelland | 1853-1857 | Franklin Pierce | ||||||
| Jacob Thompson | 1857-1861 | James Buchanan | ||||||
| Caleb B. Smith | 1861-1862 | Abraham Lincoln | ||||||
| John P. Usher | 1863-1865 | Andrew Johnson | ||||||
| James Harlan | 1865-1866 | Andrew Johnson | ||||||
| Orville H. Browning | 1866-1869 | Andrew Johnson | ||||||
| Jacob D. Cox | 1869-1870 | Ulysses S. Grant | ||||||
| Columbus Delano | 1870-1875 | Ulysses S. Grant | ||||||
| Zachariah Chandler | 1875-1877 | Ulysses S. Grant | ||||||
| Carl Schurz | 1877-1881 | Rutherford B. Hayes | ||||||
| Samuel J. Kirkwood | 1881-1882 | James Garfield | ||||||
| Henry M. Teller | 1882-1885 | Chester A. Arthur | ||||||
| Lucius Q.C. Lamar, II | 1885-1888 | Grover Cleveland | ||||||
| William F. Vilas | 1888-1889 | Grover Cleveland | ||||||
| John W. Noble | 1889-1893 | Benjamin Harrison | ||||||
| M. Hoke Smith | 1893-1896 | Grover Cleveland | ||||||
| David R. Francis | 1896-1897 | Grover Cleveland | ||||||
| Cornelius N. Bliss | 1897-1899 | William McKinley | ||||||
| Ethan A. Hitchcock | 1899-1907 | Theodore Roosevelt | ||||||
| James R. Garfield | 1907-1909 | Theodore Roosevelt | ||||||
| Richard A. Ballinger | 1909-1911 | William Howard Taft | ||||||
| Walter L. Fisher | 1911-1913 | William Howard Taft | ||||||
| Franklin K. Lane | 1913-1920 | Woodrow Wilson | ||||||
| John B. Payne | 1920-1921 | Woodrow Wilson | ||||||
| Albert B. Fall | 1921-1923 | Warren G. Harding | ||||||
| Hubert Work | 1923-1928 | Calvin Coolidge | ||||||
| Roy Owen West | 1928-1929 | Calvin Coolidge | ||||||
| Ray Lyman Wilbur | 1929-1933 | Herbert Hoover | ||||||
| Harold L. Ickes | 1933-1946 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | ||||||
| Julius A. Krug | 1946-1949 | Harry Truman | ||||||
| Oscar L. Chapman | 1949-1953 | Harry Truman | ||||||
| Douglas McKay | 1953-1956 | Dwight Eisenhower | ||||||
| Fred A. Seaton | 1956-1961 | Dwight Eisenhower | ||||||
| Steward L. Udall | 1961-1969 | John F. Kennedy | ||||||
| Walter J. Hickel | 1969-1970 | Richard Nixon | ||||||
| Rogers C.B. Morton | 1971-1975 | Gerald Ford | ||||||
| Stanley K. Hathaway | 1975 | Gerald Ford | ||||||
| Thomas S. Kleppe | 1975-1977 | Gerald Ford | ||||||
| Cecil D. Andrus | 1977-1981 | Jimmy Carter | N/A | |||||
| James G. Watt | 1981-1983 | Ronald Reagan | 83-12 | |||||
| William P. Clark | 1983-1985 | Ronald Reagan | 71-18 | |||||
| Donald P. Hodel | 1985-1989 | Ronald Reagan | 93-1 | |||||
| Manuel Lujan, Jr. | 1989-1993 | George H.W. Bush | 100-0 | |||||
| Bruce E. Babbitt | 1993-2001 | Bill Clinton | N/A | |||||
| Gale A. Norton | 2001-2006 | George W. Bush | 75-24 | |||||
| Dirk A. Kempthorne | 2006-2009 | George W. Bush | N/A | |||||
| Ken Salazar | 2009-2013 | Barack Obama | N/A | |||||
| Sally Jewell | 2013-2017 | Barack Obama | 87-11 | |||||
| Ryan Zinke | 2017-2019 | Donald Trump | 68-31 | |||||
| David Bernhardt | 2019-2021 | Donald Trump | 56-41 | |||||
| Debra Haaland | 2021-2025 | Joe Biden | 51-40 | |||||
| Walter Cruickshank (acting) | 2025-2025 | Donald Trump | - | |||||
| Doug Burgum | 2025-present | Donald Trump | 80-17 | |||||
Note: Votes marked "N/A" represent voice votes or unrecorded votes. Missing votes will be filled as they are researched.
Organization
| Administrative State |
|---|
| Read more about the administrative state on Ballotpedia. |
Initiatives and issues
Trump administration, 2017-2020
Click on the tiles below to read more about the Trump administration's specific policy proposals.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms United States Department of the Interior. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- Official Department of the Interior website
- Official Facebook page
- Official Twitter page
- Official Youtube channel
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 U.S. Department of the Interior, "Strategic plan FY 2011-2016," accessed January 2, 2013
- ↑ U.S. Department of the Interior, "Bureaus and Offices," January 2, 2014
- ↑ CNN, "Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to leave Trump administration at end of the year," December 15, 2018
- ↑ U.S. Department of the Interior, "History of the Interior," accessed January 2, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||