United States Geological Survey

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*United States Geological Survey*

Established:	March 3, 1879
Director:	Mark Myers
Budget:	$938 million (FY2004)
Employees:	10,000 (2004)

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.

A bureau of the United States Department of the Interior, it is that department's sole scientific agency. The USGS employs approximately 10,000 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with major offices in Denver, Colorado, and Menlo Park, California.

1 History
2 Mission
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

Image:Usgs Logo Old (resized).gif

Prompted by a report from the National Academy of Sciences the USGS was created by an act of Congress on March 3, 1879. It was charged with the "classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain." This task was driven by the need to inventory the vast lands added to the United States by the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

Clarence King, the first director of USGS, assembled the new organization from disparate regional survey agencies. After a short tenure, King was succeeded in the director's chair by John Wesley Powell.

The complete list of Directors:

1879–1881 Clarence King
1881–1894 John Wesley Powell
1894–1907 Charles Doolittle Walcott
1907–1930 George Otis Smith
1930–1943 Walter Curran Mendenhall
1943–1956 William Embry Wrather
1956–1965 Thomas Brennan Nolan
1965–1971 William Thomas Pecora
1971–1978 Vincent Ellis McKelvey
1978–1981 Henry William Menard
1981–1993 Dallas Lynn Peck
1994–1997 Gordon P. Eaton
1998–2005 Charles G. Groat
2006-20?? Mark Myers

[edit] Mission

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The USGS is the primary civilian mapping agency in the United States, and is best known for its 1:24,000 scale, 7.5-minute quadrangle topographic maps. Their recent program, the National Map, is an attempt to be the ultimate online mapping service for the United States. The USGS also has an vigorous Business Partners program through which they encourage the reselling of their maps so that the public can have quicker, easier access to information. Many sites such as TopoZone have capitalized on this program to provide web mapping services in conjunction with the USGS.

The USGS Earthquake Hazards Program monitors earthquake activity worldwide. The National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) in Golden, Colorado on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines detects the location and magnitude of global earthquakes. The USGS also runs or supports several regional monitoring networks in the U.S. under the umbrella of the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS). The USGS informs authorities, emergency responders, the media, and the public, both domestic and worldwide, about significant earthquakes. It also maintains long-term archives of earthquake data for scientific and engineering research. It also conducts and supports research on long-term seismic hazards.

The USGS National Geomagnetism Program monitors the magnetic field at magnetic observatories and distributes magnetometer data in real time.

Since 1962, it has been involved in global, lunar and planetary exploration and mapping.

The USGS also operates the National Wildlife Health Center, whose mission is "to serve the nation and its natural resources by providing sound science and technical support, and to disseminate information to promote science-based decisions affecting wildlife and ecosystem health. The NWHC provides information, technical assistance, research, education, and leadership on national and international wildlife health issues." [1] It is the agency primarily responsible for surveillance of wild-animal H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in the United States.

As of 2005, the agency is working to create a National Volcano Early Warning System by improving the instrumentation monitoring the 169 volcanoes in U.S. territory and by establishing methods for measuring the relative threats posed at each site.

The motto of the USGS is "Science for a changing world."

The USGS also runs 17 biological research centers in the United States, including the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.

[edit] See also

US Government offices in Environmental sciences
EPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency
DOI - United States Department of the Interior
NPS - National Park Service FWS - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service BIA - Bureau of Indian Affairs BLM - Bureau of Land Management MMS - Minerals Management Service OSM - Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation, and Enforcement USGS - U.S. Geological Survey BR - Bureau of Reclamation OIA - Office of Insular Affairs
USDA - United States Department of Agriculture
Extension Service of the USDA FSA - Farm Service Agency FAS - Foreign Agricultural Service RMA - Risk Management Agency FSIS - Food Safety Inspection Service FS - Forest Service NRCS - Natural Resources Conservation Service RBS - Rural Business-Cooperative Service OCD - Office of Community Development RHS - Rural Housing Service RUS - Rural Utilities Service FNS - Food and Nutrition Service CNPP - Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion AMS - Agricultural Marketing Service APHIS - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service GIPSA - Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration ARS - Agricultural Research Service CSREES - Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service ERS - Economic Research Service NASS - National Agricultural Statistics Service ASCS - Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service
NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NWS - National Weather Service NOS - National Ocean Service NGS - National Geodetic Survey NESDIS - National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service NMFS - National Marine Fisheries Service OAR - Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
DOE - Department of Energy
EERE - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy EIA - Energy Information Administration FERC - Federal Energy Regulatory Commission BER - Biological and Environmental Research EM - Office of Environmental Management