Department of Interior FY 2026 Discretionary Budget Establishes New Bureau

The president’s FY 2026 discretionary budget request provides $11.7B in base discretionary funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI), a $5.1B reduction from FY 2025 levels. The 30% reduction advances the Administration priorities in Energy Dominance, requesting more than $500M in department-wide energy-related programs and creates a new bureau to address nationwide wildland fire services.

Key Bureau Budget appropriations and major programs include:

• U.S. Wildland Fire Service (USWFS) $3.7B consolidates all wildland fire bureau services from the BIA, BLM, FWS and NPS and the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The allocation also provides for permanent pay increase for U.S. Federal and Tribal wildland firefighters nationwide including temporary and seasonal employees and for the new incident response premium pay for all responders.
• Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) $1.2B allots $1.1B appropriated for water and related resource reclamation activities including the California Bay-Delta Restoration at $32M. The budget supports key water and power facility operations, maintenance and rehabilitation programs and addresses adequate water supplies and drought conditions, flood risk reduction and providing reliable baseload electricity.
• National Park Service (NPS) $2.1B establishes programs to encourage greater use of the nation’s parks. The budget allocates $2B for park operations and $100M for construction projects, management, planning, operations and special projects. The July 3, 2025 executive order Making America Beautiful Again by Improving our National Parks will provide additional funding through higher entry fees for foreign tourists. The request also provides $13M for historic preservation projects, grants and environmental programs with $11M allocated for grants to Historically Black Colleges and Universities for the preservation of and documentation on historic structures.
• Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) $1.7B addresses Federal responsibilities and Tribal needs related to public and justice, social services, infrastructure and stewardship of land, water and other natural resources. This includes $522M for BIA Public Safety and Justice program, $916M for education programs, full funding for Contract Support Costs and Tribal Grant support costs at $205M for managing Federal Indian programs and $138M for tribal leases. The budget adds $93M in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) funding for FY 2026.
• Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) $1.1B focuses on resource management for energy programs including $14M to maintain bureau infrastructure and drive increased outdoor recreation opportunities, provide employment opportunities and provide water resources to the Western U.S. Eliminates grants to States and Tribes with conditional regulations.
• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) $892M prioritizes sciences supporting energy and mineral development, security, hazard monitoring and Land Satellites 8 and 9 (Landsats) operational maintenance. This includes $136.5M for the Natural Hazards program for preparation and response programs for events such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters.
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM) $936M includes $112.7M for onshore Oil and Gas Management programs (a 10% over the 2025 levels) and $53.2M for Oil and Gas Inspection activities. Funding provides $17.5M for Coal Management program and $9M for other mineral resource management projects. The BLM budget prioritizes natural resource development in Alaska and on federally protected lands.
• Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE): $262M funds State and Trible Programs and oversees coal mining activities. The FY 2026 request provides $101M for Regulation and Technology programs and $161M for the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund and Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization program. Funding also supports maintaining adequate energy supplies for AI utilization and data center operations, stabilizing the electric grid while ensuring a balance between energy exploration/production, environmental protection and agricultural production.
• Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) $148M supports high-priority offshore oil and gas energy development programs on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) including leases. This includes $72M from offshore rental and cost recover collections. The budget provides $73M for the OCS conventional energy programs and reduces environmental program appropriations by 70% below FY 2025 levels.
• Bureau of Safety Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) $143M funds offshore energy management and operations on the OCS along with conventional and emerging energy programs.
• Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) $916M provides educational programs and $48M for construction projects.
• Departmental Offices $233M covers core management and operational activities that do not logically fit within other bureaus. This includes the Office of the Secretary ($124M), the Office of the Solicitor ($60M) and the Office of Inspector General ($49M). This budget also reauthorizes the Great American Outdoors Act and establishes Allocates $9.5B across five years ($1.5B per year) for the Legacy Restoration Fund (LWCF) to address the deferred maintenance backlog and restore deteriorating federal assets. The LWCF also provides state grant opportunities to support locally led outdoor recreation via the BLM, NPS and FWS. An additional $145M will be available through supplemental funds including the IIJA.

IT related Allocations:

The DOI FY 2026 budget includes $1.98B for Information Technology (IT) and Cybersecurity funding representing 2.9% of the agency’s overall discretionary budget. Key programs include:

• $33.2M for cybersecurity efforts and high-priority operations and maintenance costs and incident-driven remediation activities
• $885K for evidence-based information and open data management programs
• $527K for radio modernization to deploy remote broadband connective and provide employees in the field with voice, video and data capabilities
• $1.1M for Western Oregon Information and Data Systems.

For more information, check out initial budget overview, FY 2026 President’s Budget Request – GovWin FMA’s First Take and continue monitoring the Federal Market Analysis team for ongoing FY 2026 federal budget analyses. And don’t forget to register for Deniece Peterson’s Breaking Down the FY 2026 Federal Budget Request webinar on July 10, 2025.