United States Geological Survey

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) was established by the Organic Act of March
3, 1879 (43 U.S.C. 31). The USGS monitors and conducts
scientiﬁc research on the Earth’s natural resources and environment.
With specialists working in biology, geology, geography, hydrology,
geospatial information, and remote sensing, the USGS studies the complex
interdependent relationships between people, plants, animals, and the Earth’s
natural elements. The USGS holds no regulatory or management responsibilities
and contributes politically neutral scientiﬁc ﬁndings to the creation of
public policy. The USGS compiles statistics, reports, analyses, maps, models,
and tools that forecast the consequences of various environmental strategies, and
these products, created in partnership with other governmental, academic, and
private organizations, provide the basis for evaluating the effectiveness of speciﬁc
policies and management actions at the Federal, State, local, and tribal levels of
government.

The USGS maintains a broad scope of research activities and long-term data
sets, such as information relating to natural hazards, including earthquakes,
ﬂoods, tsunamis, volcanoes, landslides, and coastal erosion; energy and mineral
resources; and geological processes that affect the Nation’s land and coasts.

The USGS also collects information on the quality of surface and ground water
resources; animal health, identifying and dealing with invasive species, biological
species management, and ecosystems; and geospatial data, topographic maps,
and satellite images critical to emergency response, homeland security, land-use
planning, and resource management.

Every day, the USGS helps decisionmakers to minimize loss of life and property, manage our natural resources, and protect and enhance our quality of life.

With more than 130 years of data and experience, USGS employs 9,000 science
and science-support staff, in more than 400 science centers across the United
States, who work on locally, regionally, and nationally scaled studies, research
projects, and sampling and monitoring sites.