Our Priorities

The Department of the Interior plays a central role in how the United States stewards its public lands, advances clean energy projects, increases environmental protections, pursues environmental justice, and honors our nation-to-nation relationship with Tribes.

Since Day One of the Biden-Harris administration, the Interior Department has taken bold action to protect public lands, the environment and Americans’ lives and futures. At every step of the way, we have advanced our key priorities with robust engagement, including with Tribal Nations, states, territories, local officials, private landowners, fishers, outdoor enthusiasts, environmental justice advocates and other important partners and stakeholders across the community.  

To meet the scope of our challenges, realize our opportunities and fulfill our commitments to the American people, we are:

  • Advancing President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to strengthen our country’s infrastructure and create good-paying union jobs. The American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act – key pillars of the Bidenomics strategy – contain several provisions that invest in Department initiatives and benefit the communities and areas we directly serve. This historic funding is helping restore critical habitats, address the drought crisis, strengthen wildland fire management, address legacy pollution, invest in Tribal communities and create good-paying union jobs.
  • Accelerating responsible development of clean energy on public lands and waters. Clean energy — including solar, onshore and offshore wind, geothermal, and wave and tidal energy projects — is helping communities across the country be part of the climate solution while creating good-paying union jobs. The Biden-Harris administration is taking an all-of-government approach toward its ambitious renewable energy goals that will create jobs to support families, boost local economies, and help address environmental injustice.
  • Strengthening the government-to-government relationship with Tribal Nations. We understand that Tribal sovereignty and self-governance, as well as honoring the federal trust responsibility to Tribal Nations, must be the cornerstones of federal Indian policy. The Interior Department is working to invest in Indigenous communities and ensure that they have the support, resources, and infrastructure to thrive.
  • Working to restore and conserve at least 30% of our lands and waters by 2030. Through the America the Beautiful initiative, we are working to protect biodiversity, slow extinction rates and help leverage natural climate solutions by. This relies on collaborative locally, state, private, and Tribally led nature conservation and restoration efforts that are underway across America.
  • Centering equity and environmental justice. The impacts of the multiple crises in the United States are not evenly distributed in our society. Communities of color, low-income families, and rural and Indigenous communities have long suffered disproportionate and cumulative harm from air pollution, water pollution, and toxic sites. At every step of the way, Interior will implement the President’s Justice40 initiative and engage diverse stakeholders across the country to address long-standing environmental injustices and ensure that historically marginalized communities have greater input on and receive enhanced benefits from federal policies and decisions.