Our Federal Partners
U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)
U.S. Department of Interior
- U.S. Department of Interior;
- The mission of the Department of Interior (DOI) is to protect America’s natural resources
and heritage, honor our cultures and tribal communities, and supply the energy to power our future.
DOI has six major focuses: Energy – to develop a clean energy economy and support development of
renewable energy sources; Outdoors – to engage and reconnect more of the American public with the
outdoors; Native Americans – upholding the federal government’s unique government-to-government
relationship with American Indian Indians and Alaska Natives; Climate Change – to better understand
the impacts of climate change and to coordinate climate science and resource management strategies;
Water – to address competing demands, improve conservation, restore watersheds, and resolve long-standing
water conflicts; and Youth – to employ, educate, and engage in order to connect with and preserve
America’s cultural resources.
The Department of Interior is comprised of 8 primary sections-- Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, Office of Surface Mining, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey. - Bureau of Indian Affairs
- The United States has a unique legal and political relationship with Indian tribes and Alaska Native entities as provided by the U.S. Constitution, treaties, court decisions and Federal statutes. The U.S. is charged with developing and maintaining the government-to-government relationship with tribes. Within this relationship, Indian Affairs provides services directly or through contracts, grants, or compacts to 564 federally recognized tribes.
- Bureau of Land Management
- The Bureau is responsible for sustaining the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. It accomplishes this by working with partners at the local, state, and national levels to support management and conservation of resources on 253 million surface acres, as well as 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate. These public lands make up about 13 percent of the total land surface of the United States and more than 40 percent of all land managed by the Federal government. In Alaska, the Bureau of Land Management administers approximately 75 million surface acres of federal public land—an area larger than the State of New Mexico.
- Fish and Wildlife Service
- The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. In Alaska the FWS manages nearly 77 million acres of land in 16 refuges accounting for more than 80% of all land in the refuge system. FWS has unique responsibilities in Alaska for migratory birds, marine mammals, endangered species, and the federal management of subsistence hunting and fishing by rural Alaskans.
- Geological Survey
- USGS has a goal to serve as a multi-disciplinary science organization focusing on biology, geography, geology, geospatial information, and water. It is charged to collect data that are timely, relevant, and impartial, regarding the nation’s landscape, natural resources, and natural hazards. USGS serves as the Nation's largest agency regarding water, earth, biological sciences and civilian mapping, and collects, monitors, analyzes, and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues, and problems.
- Minerals Management Service
- MMS is a Bureau of the Department of Interior with a mission to manage the ocean energy and mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf as well as Federal and American Indian mineral revenues to enhance public and trust benefits, promote responsible use, and realize fair value. The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses an average of $13.7 billion per year in revenues from Federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on Federal and American Indian lands. This national program is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
- In Alaska, the MMS mission is to manage the mineral resources of the Alaska Outer Continental Shelf in an environmentally sound and safe manner. The Alaska OCS Region encompasses over 1 billion acres and more than 6,000 miles of coastline. It supports providing opportunities to explore for petroleum as well as preserve the environment and the lifestyle of the people living adjacent to its coast.
- National Park Service
- On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the National Park Service (NPS). The “Organic Act” states that the fundamental purpose of the NPS “is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations”.
- The National Park System covers more than 84 million acres and is comprised of 392 areas called “units.” The units include 122 historical parks or sites, 74 monuments, 58 national parks, 24 battlefields or military parks, 18 preserves, 18 recreation areas, 10 seashores, four parkways, four lakeshores, and two reserves. The NPS also helps administer dozens of affiliated sites, the National Register of Historic Places, National Heritage Areas, National Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Historic Landmarks, and National Trails.
- In Alaska the NPS manages 15 national parks, preserves, monuments and national historical parks. The agency performs a variety of functions supporting the administration of 13 national wild rivers, two affiliated areas and a national heritage area. Alaska is also home to 49 National Historic Landmarks and 16 National Natural Landmarks.