News Staff

The U.S. secretary of the interior is responsible for everything from the management of millions of acres of federal lands to the enforcement of laws protecting endangered species.

Formed in 1849, it is one of the oldest Cabinet-level positions in the United States government, and it has evolved over the past 150 years as times have changed.

Originally set up to handle such things as the water and jail systems in Washington, D.C., and the exploration of the Western wilderness, today the department operates myriad federal agencies.

Those include the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the Minerals Management Service, the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation.

According to 1999 figures, the Department of the Interior was staffed with 71,000 employees and had a budget of $7.7 billion.

It is the nation's principal conservation agency, and much of the land it is responsible for is in the West.

The department's mission statement contains four components: