United States Geological Survey

Not to be confused with U.S. National Geodetic Survey or United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.

United States Geological Survey (USGS)
Seal of the United States Geological Survey
Official identifier of the U.S. Geological Survey

Flag of the United States Geological Survey
Agency overview
FormedMarch 3, 1879; 145 years ago (1879-03-03) (as Geological Survey)
JurisdictionUnited States
HeadquartersJohn W. Powell National Center
Reston, Virginia, U.S.
38°56′49″N 77°22′03″W / 38.9470°N 77.3675°W / 38.9470; -77.3675
Employees8,670 (2009)
Annual budget$1.497 billion (FY2023)[1]
Agency executive
Parent agencyUnited States Department of the Interior
Websitewww.usgs.gov Edit this at Wikidata

The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March 3, 1879, to study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The agency also makes maps of extraterrestrial planets and moons based on data from U.S. space probes.

The sole scientific agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.[2] It is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with major offices near Lakewood, Colorado; at the Denver Federal Center; and in NASA Ames Research Park in California.[3] In 2009, it employed about 8,670 people.[4]

The current motto of the USGS, in use since August 1997, is "science for a changing world".[5][6] The agency's previous slogan, adopted on its hundredth anniversary, was "Earth Science in the Public Service".[7]

  1. ^ H.R. 2617
  2. ^ "Who We Are". United States Geological Survey. Archived from the original on August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  3. ^ McLean, Tessa (May 10, 2024). "Big Bay Area property could soon be vacant after 70 years". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  4. ^ "Monterey Aquarium's McNutt new USGS Director". The Seattle Times. Associated Press. October 23, 2009. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
  5. ^ FY 1997 Annual Financial Report Archived September 21, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Geological Survey.
  6. ^ "USGS Visual Identity System". United States Geological Survey. July 27, 2006. Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved December 29, 2008.
  7. ^ Suggestions to Authors of the Reports of the United States Geological Survey Archived June 21, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, U.S. Geological Survey (7th ed. 1991), pp. 247–248.