News and Updates

Next Interior Fellows Program: Applications open

15 July 2025 - Next Interior has released a Request For Proposals for projects that will (a) cultivate ideas and capacity that will support a strong future Department and (b) build the capacity of Next Interior in supporting the Department. We’ll be looking for ideas that bring creativity to the table and can show how the contribution will lead to change. Could be research, could be a tool, could be art…you make your pitch.

The inaugural proposals will focus on that nexus of climate, nature, and people, such as ideas for advancing nature-based solutions, science and knowledge to support action, or supporting Tribal climate adaptation and resilience. One of the Fellows will engage on a project documenting institutional knowledge being lost from the Department. 

Sound interesting? The RFP is available on LinkedIn or direct:

Coming soon: Next Interior Fellows Program

08 July 2025 - Next Tuesday, 15 July, we’ll put out a Request For Proposals for projects that will (a) cultivate ideas and capacity that will support a strong future Department and (b) build the capacity of Next Interior in supporting the Department. We’ll be looking for ideas that bring creativity to the table and can show how the contribution will lead to change. Could be research, could be a tool, could be art…you'll get to make your pitch.

The inaugural proposals will focus on that nexus of climate, nature, and people, such as ideas for advancing nature-based solutions, science and knowledge to support action, or supporting Tribal climate adaptation and resilience. One of the Fellows will engage on a project documenting institutional knowledge being lost from the Department. 

Sound interesting? Read more from our pre-announcement:

Next Interior is being supported by The Navigation Fund!

26 June 2025 - We are happy to share that The Navigation Fund, a foundation that supports climate, open science, and other civil society projects, is supporting Next Interior! With this funding, we can keep charging ahead to help imagine, advocate for, and support a strong future U.S. Department of the Interior. 

The Navigation Fund's climate change program is designed to support efforts that will help society address climate change. The Fund recognized the opportunity that the Department of the Interior has in helping address climate change as the largest land manager in the country, with fundamental roles in energy development, and a workforce with hundreds of thousands of years of institutional knowledge that includes how the Nation can address climate change through adaptation, resilience, and mitigation.

The President's FY 2026 Budget Proposal is bad news for Interior and the people - and places - it serves

10 June 2025 - Next Interior analyzed the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 President's Budget Proposal for the Department of the Interior; the results are not good. Here are some of the top-lines:

An analysis of the full FY 2026 President's budget request shows the values of the Trump administration and the Secretary of the Department of the Interior (Interior). ...we outline some of the numbers and their implications for the Department of Interior and the millions of Americans it serves. Here are three top-line take-aways:

• Conservation, recreation, science, and renewable energy are heavily targeted, with billions of dollars of proposed cuts.

• Fire gets most of the attention for (apparent) increases, driven by the proposal to create a U.S. Wildland Fire Service.

• Funding to support the Nation’s trust obligations to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians is slated for nearly $1 billion in requested cuts.

You can read the full letter to House Natural Resources and get the data to take a look for yourself.