The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural resources, leading such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Park Service. The secretary also serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation Board. The secretary is a member of the United States Cabinet and reports to the president of the United States. The function of the U.S. Department of the Interior is different from that of the interior minister designated in many other countries.
As the policies and activities of the Department of the Interior and many of its agencies have a substantial impact in the Western United States, the secretary of the interior has typically come from a western state; only one secretary since 1949, Rogers Morton, was not a resident or native of a state lying west of the Mississippi River.
Secretary of the Interior is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning a salary of US$246,400, as of January 2024.
The current interior secretary is Doug Burgum, who was sworn in on February 1, 2025.
Line of succession
The line of succession for the secretary of the interior is as follows:4
- Deputy Secretary of the Interior
- Solicitor of the Interior
- Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget
- Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management
- Assistant Secretary for Water and Science
- Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks
- Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs
- Director, Security, Safety, and Law Enforcement, Bureau of Reclamation
- Central Region Director, US Geological Survey
- Intermountain Regional Director, National Park Service
- Region 6 (Mountain-Prairie Region) Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service
- Colorado State Director, Bureau of Land Management
- Regional Solicitor, Rocky Mountain Region
List of secretaries of the interior
| Parties Whig (3) Democratic (17) Republican (34) Status Denotes acting Secretary of the Interior
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External links
- United States portal
- Politics portal
- Official website
- Utley, Robert M.; Mackintosh, Barry (1989). "The Department of Everything Else: Highlights of Interior History". National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 28, 2006.
References
Lowery, Courtney (December 17, 2008). "Salazar, Vilsack: The West's New Land Lords". New West. Archived from the original on December 20, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081220221345/http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/the_wests_new_land_lords/C41/L41/ ↩
5 U.S.C. § 5312 /wiki/Title_5_of_the_United_States_Code ↩
"Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule" (PDF). Office of Personnel Management. January 1, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2024. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2024/EX.pdf ↩
"Chapter 3: Secretarial Succession". Electronic Library of the Interior Policies. September 3, 2004. Retrieved October 30, 2016. https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/elips/documents/Chapter%20%203_%20SECRETARIAL%20SUCCESSION%20%282%29.doc ↩
"About Secretary Jewell". U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130608142317/http://www.doi.gov/whoweare/secretaryjewell.cfm ↩