USGS - overview - Army Geospatial Center

The U.S. Geological Survey: An Introduction
Mark DeMulder
Director, National Geospatial Program
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey

Nature under threat
• Changing climate
• Increasing population
• Increasing demand for resources
• Environmental degradation

Finding Balance: Advancing Sustainability

A Legacy of Science and Exploration
1804-06 Lewis and Clark Across the Continent
1805-07 Lt. Zebulon Pike Rocky Mountains, Pikes Peak
1807 Survey of the Coast Geodesy, hydrography
1819-20 Maj. Stephen Long Rocky Mountains
1834-35 G. Featherstonhaugh Ozarks Mountains
1839-40 David Owen Upper Miss. Valley
1840s-50s Corps of Topo. Eng. Routes to Pacific
1867-79 Four Surveys King, Hayden, Powell, Wheeler
1879 U.S. Geological Survey Established by Congress

133 Years of USGS Science
USGS established by the Organic Act of March 3, 1879,
which mandated "the classification of the public lands and
examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and
products of the national domain."
Clarence King
First USGS Director, 1879 -1881

Science is more essential for our prosperity, our
security, our health, our environment, and our
quality of life than it has ever been.
President Obama
At the National Academy of Sciences
April 27, 2009