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Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will leave President Obama's cabinet by March, creating another opening for the president to fill as he begins his second term, according to a senior administration official.

Mr. Salazar, a former senator from Colorado, was part of Mr. Obama's original cabinet. As the head of the interior department, he was the president's top adviser on issues involving open space, parks and drilling.

After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Mr. Salazar was in charge of inquiries into the regulation of oil companies by the Minerals Management Service.

The Denver Post first reported Mr. Salazar's departure.

Mr. Salazar received some criticism following the oil spill from environmentalists who said the agency was too slow in responding to the crisis of oil gushing into the gulf. He famously said in interviews that "we have our boot on their neck to make sure they get the job done."

In an interview during the oil spill, Mr. Salazar defended his actions, saying, "I feel good about what I'm doing, and I'm very confident and I'm very resolute in our ability to get the job done, and I feel very good about my relationship with President Obama."

In the years following the spill, Mr. Salazar pushed for greater regulation of oil drilling, often clashing with Republicans in Congress who had pushed for an expansion of oil exploration.

In a speech at the National Press Club in Washington last year, Mr. Salazar said some Republicans in Congress are "members of the Flat Earth Society."