Agency · 1976–2026 · AAAS data
Department of the Interior
Earth science for public lands — the U.S. Geological Survey, offshore energy science, and park research.
The Department of the Interior manages the public lands, and its science budget follows from that job. The U.S. Geological Survey is the anchor — earthquake monitoring, water resources, mapping, and ecosystem science — joined by the offshore-energy science offices and research inside the National Park Service.
For most of five decades this was one of the steadiest small budgets in government, drifting between roughly $0.7 billion and $1.2 billion in 2017 dollars, with a visible retrenchment in the early 1980s. The recent story is more abrupt: the reported total dropped by nearly half in 2024, from about $1.1 billion to $562 million in 2017 dollars, and kept falling.
Fiscal year 2025 came in at $641 million in current dollars. The 2026 figure of $354 million is the estimate from the White House budget request. Congress has since enacted the FY 2026 budget; the budget-cycle section below shows where the U.S. Geological Survey's accounts landed.
Fig. 1 · Budget history
Interior's science budget has drifted between roughly $0.7 and $1.2 billion in 2017 dollars for five decades — until the reported total nearly halved in 2024.
The Interior research and development (R&D) budget, every fiscal year on record.
- 1982Early-1980s retrenchment. The science budget falls by about a quarter in real terms from its late-1970s level.
- 2024Reported total nearly halves. The reported science budget drops from about $1.1 billion to $562 million in 2017 dollars.
The numbers behind this figure
| Fiscal year | Nominal dollars | Constant 2017 dollars | R&D share of GDP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 325 | 1,131 | 0.018% |
| 1977 | 327 | 1,061 | 0.016% |
| 1978 | 363 | 1,104 | 0.016% |
| 1979 | 410 | 1,153 | 0.016% |
| 1980 | 410 | 1,061 | 0.015% |
| 1981 | 412 | 971 | 0.013% |
| 1982 | 385 | 848 | 0.012% |
| 1983 | 388 | 818 | 0.011% |
| 1984 | 364 | 741 | 0.009% |
| 1985 | 389 | 767 | 0.009% |
| 1986 | 383 | 739 | 0.008% |
| 1987 | 408 | 770 | 0.009% |
| 1988 | 426 | 778 | 0.008% |
| 1989 | 480 | 842 | 0.009% |
| 1990 | 531 | 899 | 0.009% |
| 1991 | 620 | 1,014 | 0.01% |
| 1992 | 643 | 1,026 | 0.01% |
| 1993 | 649 | 1,012 | 0.01% |
| 1994 | 708 | 1,080 | 0.01% |
| 1995 | 668 | 998 | 0.009% |
| 1996 | 571 | 838 | 0.007% |
| 1997 | 591 | 852 | 0.007% |
| 1998 | 536 | 762 | 0.006% |
| 1999 | 499 | 702 | 0.005% |
| 2000 | 618 | 851 | 0.006% |
| 2001 | 621 | 835 | 0.006% |
| 2002 | 623 | 825 | 0.006% |
| 2003 | 643 | 835 | 0.006% |
| 2004 | 627 | 795 | 0.005% |
| 2005 | 621 | 764 | 0.005% |
| 2006 | 639 | 762 | 0.005% |
| 2007 | 647 | 750 | 0.005% |
| 2008 | 683 | 776 | 0.005% |
| 2009 | 702 | 789 | 0.005% |
| 2010 | 776 | 865 | 0.005% |
| 2011 | 757 | 827 | 0.005% |
| 2012 | 820 | 880 | 0.005% |
| 2013 | 785 | 828 | 0.005% |
| 2014 | 840 | 870 | 0.005% |
| 2015 | 864 | 885 | 0.005% |
| 2016 | 973 | 989 | 0.005% |
| 2017 | 941 | 941 | 0.005% |
| 2018 | 872 | 854 | 0.004% |
| 2019 | 958 | 920 | 0.005% |
| 2020 | 1,043 | 989 | 0.005% |
| 2021 | 1,009 | 925 | 0.004% |
| 2022 | 1,140 | 977 | 0.005% |
| 2023 | 1,296 | 1,062 | 0.005% |
| 2024 | 704 | 562 | 0.002% |
| 2025 | 641 | 500 | 0.002% |
| 2026est. | 354 | 271 | 0.001% |
Fig. 2 · Where the money goes
The U.S. Geological Survey is the department's main science engine.
The major Interior budget lines tracked by AAAS. These are appropriations accounts: they overlap the budget-history series but are not an exact decomposition of it.
The numbers behind this figure
| Fiscal year | BOEM-OEM | BSEE-OSEE | NPS-Operation | U.S. Geological Survey |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | — | — | — | 729 |
| 1998 | — | — | — | 806 |
| 1999 | — | — | — | 794 |
| 2000 | — | — | — | 757 |
| 2001 | — | — | — | 744 |
| 2002 | — | — | — | 723 |
| 2003 | — | — | — | 662 |
| 2004 | — | — | — | 706 |
| 2005 | — | — | — | 698 |
| 2006 | — | — | — | 713 |
| 2007 | — | — | — | 752 |
| 2008 | — | — | — | 720 |
| 2009 | — | — | 2,950 | 750 |
| 2010 | — | — | 2,472 | 696 |
| 2011 | — | — | 2,428 | 697 |
| 2012 | — | 65 | 2,359 | 702 |
| 2013 | 59 | 60 | 2,172 | 701 |
| 2014 | 71 | 74 | 2,293 | 705 |
| 2015 | 74 | 80 | 2,316 | 611 |
| 2016 | 101 | 95 | 2,370 | 640 |
| 2017 | 115 | 87 | 2,372 | 650 |
| 2018 | 110 | 104 | 2,380 | 615 |
| 2019 | 123 | 115 | 2,373 | 626 |
| 2020 | 151 | 144 | 2,536 | 422 |
| 2021 | 188 | 144 | 2,504 | 1,377 |
| 2022 | 173 | 181 | 2,366 | 1,192 |
| 2023 | 168 | 146 | 2,309 | 1,157 |
| 2024 | 116 | 53 | 1,557 | 692 |
| 2025 | 139 | 123 | 2,079 | 1,047 |
| 2026est. | 153 | 169 | 2,195 | 1,136 |
Appropriations
The current budget cycle: FY 2026 enacted, FY 2027 requested
What Congress enacted for fiscal year 2026 and what the White House has requested for FY 2027, account by account. Budget authority in millions of dollars.
- Ecosystems, FY 2026 enacted$295MFY 2027 request $0M-100%
- Water Resources, FY 2026 enacted$289MFY 2027 request $227M-21.4%
- Core Science Systems, FY 2026 enacted$276MFY 2027 request $157M-43.2%
- Natural Hazards, FY 2026 enacted$200MFY 2027 request $137M-31.8%
- Energy and Minerals, FY 2026 enacted$105MFY 2027 request $142M+36.1%
- Science Support, FY 2026 enacted$74MFY 2027 request $80M+8.6%
- USGS Total, FY 2026 enacted$1.4BFY 2027 request $893M-37.2%
How much research funding does the Department of the Interior receive?
Interior had about $641 million in R&D budget authority in fiscal year 2025.
What research does Interior fund?
The Department of the Interior manages the public lands, and its science budget follows from that job. The U.S. Geological Survey is the anchor — earthquake monitoring, water resources, mapping, and ecosystem science — joined by the offshore-energy science offices and research inside the National Park Service.
How has Interior's research budget changed over time?
Interior's science budget has drifted between roughly $0.7 and $1.2 billion in 2017 dollars for five decades — until the reported total nearly halved in 2024.