Secretary of the Interior
On February 6, 2013, Jewell was nominated by President Barack Obama to succeed Ken Salazar as United States Secretary of the Interior. Her nomination was approved by the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on March 21, with only three of the committee's 22 members opposed. On April 10, 2013, the Senate confirmed Jewell to be Secretary of the Interior in an 87–11 vote. She was sworn in as Secretary of the Interior on April 12, 2013. As Secretary of the Interior she oversaw the Interior Department, which has a budget of $11 billion, employs 70,000 people, and acted as steward for twenty percent of the United States of America's land.
Jewell's first order as secretary, issued in October 2013, established a process for the Department of the Interior to offset large development projects with conservation efforts. The effort was an extension of existing programs that use fees for offshore drilling permits to expand or build parks. At the same time, Jewell publicly pledged to work with President Obama to preserve mountains and rivers, with or without Congressional action. Existing laws, such as the 1906 Antiquities Act, give the president broad authority to preserve land, a power Jewell indicated she and the President were prepared to use as part of a balanced approach between development and conservation.
Expanding access to parks was a feature of many initiatives Jewell undertook as secretary. A 2014 Secretarial Order set benchmarks to increase youth involvement, seeking to create opportunities for young people to play, learn, serve, and work in national parks. Jewell led the kickoff of the Every Kid Every Park program by leading fourth graders on a hike through Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The Every Kid initiative made every fourth grade student, and their families, eligible for a free one-year pass to every national park. Jewell also backed a 2016 initiative to expedite permitting for youth organizations to explore public wildlands on overnight or multi-day trips, particularly in less popular parks.
On August 28, 2015, Jewell used her authority as Secretary to rename the tallest mountain in North America Denali. The United States federal government had adopted the name Mount McKinley for the peak in 1917 although the Koyukon Athabascan, a group native to Alaska, had traditionally called the peak Denali. President Obama supported Jewell's decision to change the name.
As Secretary, Jewell approved the first phase of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP). The DRECP focuses on renewable energy and land conservation in California's desert. At the signing ceremony, held September 16, 2016, at the Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center, Secretary Jewell stated phase one was intended to streamline approval for solar, wind, and geothermal projects. The DRECP also aimed to preserve 4.2 million acres of land. Conservation groups viewed the initiative more favorably than did wind and solar developers, who criticized the DRECP for removing some public land designated for development.
Jewell was the 51st Secretary of the Interior, and the second woman to hold the position. Unlike many of her predecessors, Jewell never held elected office. Because she acquired her U.S. citizenship by naturalization rather than being a natural-born citizen, Jewell was not eligible to hold a place within the presidential line of succession.
