Department of the Interior

The Department of the Interior is one of the nation's principal conservation agencies. Its mission is to protect and provide access to our nation's natural and cultural heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to American Indians and Alaska Natives and our responsibilities to island communities.

• Operating at approximately 2,400 locations, the department is responsible for 500 million acres of America’s public land, or about one-fifth of the land in the United States; a variety of water and underwater resources, including 479 dams and 348 reservoirs; and approximately 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf.
• The department’s more than 4,800 recreational sites experience nearly 460 million visits annually.
• The department has an annual budget of $15.8 billion and raises more than $12.9 billion in revenues collected from, among other things, energy and mineral rights, grazing, and timber sales.
• Approximately 30 percent of the nation’s energy production comes from projects on department-managed lands and offshore areas.

As the guardian of much of the nation’s vast natural resources, the department is entrusted to

• preserve awe-inspiring landscapes—such as the wild beauty of the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Denali National Parks—historic places like Independence Hall and the Gettysburg battlefield, and such revered national icons as the Statue of Liberty and the Washington Monument;
• provide for the environmentally sound production of oil, gas, minerals, and other resources found on the nation’s public lands;
• honor the nation’s obligations to American Indians and Alaska Natives;
• protect habitat to sustain fish and wildlife;
• help manage water resources in western states; and
• provide scientific and technical information to allow for sound decision making about resources.

Interior’s management of this vast federal estate is largely characterized by the struggle to balance the demand for greater use and consumption of its resources with the need to conserve and protect them for the benefit of future generations. Interior faces challenges that could affect its ability to carry out certain of its responsibilities effectively and efficiently.