Missions, Organization, and Budget MISSION On March 3, 1979, the U.S. Geological Survey celebrated the centennial anniversary of its establishment by Act of Congress. The Survey was originally charged with responsibility for the "classification of the public lands and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain." Over the years, the evolution of the earth sciences, the need to carefully manage the Nation's nonrenewable resources and to find new sources of scarce energy and mineral commodities, and mounting concern regarding the impact of man on the Nation's environment have added numerous other duties including topographic mapping, chemical and physical research, stream-gaging and water-resource assessments, and supervision of mineral exploration and development activities on Federal and Indian lands. The most recently added responsibility is the exploration program of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPRA), transferred from the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Interior in June 1977 under the Naval Petroleum Reserves Production Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-258). Under the Act, Congress also charged the Department of the Interior with the responsibility for operating the South Barrow gas field as a source of energy for the village of Barrow and several Federal installations including the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory. This responsibility for the operation of the gas field was assigned by the Secretary to the Geological Survey. In general, the Survey's activities are oriented toward two basic missions, scientific and regulatory. The first mission is to collect, to analyze, and to publish information about the Nation's energy, mineral, land, and water resources; to conduct research to determine the geologic structure of the United States; and to develop an understanding of Earth processes and history. The second is to classify Federal lands as to their water and mineral potential and to supervise the activities of lessees who explore for and develop the mineral resources of Federal and Indian lands and the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Both missions and their supporting activities are directed towards the goal of assuring that the Nation's mineral resources are identified, conserved, and developed in an orderly, timely, and diligent fashion; that the American people receive a fair return on the value of their leased resources; and that mineral exploration and production activities on Federal and Indian lands are conducted with due regard for the interests of the communities directly affected and with minimum damage to other resource and environmental values. Detailed supplementary budget and statistical tables are available upon request from the Office of Program Analysis, U.S. Geological Survey, 105 National Center, Reston, VA 22092. ORGANIZATION The Geological Survey is headquartered at Reston, Va., and maintains a nationwide organization consisting of three Regions and more than 160 offices located throughout the United States. The Survey is organized into four Program Divisions (Topographic, Geologic, Water Resources, and Conservation), two major Offices (Land) Information and Analysis and the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska), and three Support Divisions (Administrative, Computer Center, and Publications), each reporting to the Director of the Survey as shown in the diagram appearing on pages 140 and 141 in the section entitled "Organizational and Statistical Data." A number of Assistant Directorships have been established to coordinate the activities and relations among the Divisions and the three Regional Offices and to render staff services to the Director and Associate Director in certain specified areas such as program analysis; land resources; energy, mineral, and water management; geologic engineering; and regulation. The Geological Survey's field organization is made up of Regional Offices at Reston, Va., Denver, Colo., and Menlo Park, Calif., and a network of field and specialpurpose offices. These offices coordinate and administer the work of the Survey's widely dispersed activities. The Water Resources Division, for example, has District Offices in 45 of the 50 States and 1 in Puerto Rico. The Conservation Division maintains 70 Area, District, and Inspection Offices close to its areas of work on the public lands and adjacent to areas of petroleum development on the OCS. A directory of the Survey's National Center and selected field offices begins on page 142. Angel Arch along tributary of Salt Canyon is one of numerous natural arches that were formed in the Canyonlands National Park in Utah by erosion over the past 50 million years. BUDGET Total obligations incurred by the Geological Survey in fiscal year 1979 were $764.71 million, an increase of $66 million over the preceding year. Obligations for "Surveys, Investigations, and Research" were $418 million, an increase of $44 million over fiscal year 1978. Included in this increase were new or expanded programs for nuclear hydrology, wilderness mineral surveys, digital mapping, coal hydrology, geothermal investigations, and oil and gas programs. Obligations for "Exploration of National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska" were $216.88 million in fiscal year 1979, an increase of $14.18 million over the previous year. Funds from other Federal agencies, States, and non-Federal sources amounted to $129.83 million, an increase of $17.95 million over fiscal year 1978. Included in this amount were $44.1 million from States, counties, and municipalities under the "Federal-State Cooperative Program," $3 million more than the fiscal year 1978 amount. Direct Federal funds $634.9 A 10-year comparative analysis of obligations incurred under direct and reimbursable program activities is presented in figure 1. Just as the Survey performs services within its own field of expertise for other agencies using reimbursable agreements, outside sources are relied upon by the Survey for the accomplishment of an increasing share of its workload. Funds obligated for grants and contractual services have risen from less than $25 million in fiscal year 1973 (11.5 percent of total funds) to $120 million in fiscal year 1979 (21.8 percent of total funds, excluding NPRA). The $216.88 million obligated under "Exploration of National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska" was almost entirely for contractual services. The table shows a comparison of obligations in fiscal year 1978 and 1979 by major budget activity, and the fig - Conservation of Lands and ure depicts the annual obligations incurred by each activity for the period 1969 to 1979. Miscellaneous non-Federal sources $15.8 Other Federal agencies $69.9 State Share $44.1 Topographic Surveys Federal share $44.1 Federal-State Cooperative Program SOURCE OF FUNDS TOTAL $764.7 MILLION USE OF FUNDS Geologic and Mapping $178.56 Conservation of Lands and Minerals $85.48 Water Resources Investigations $168.60 Land Information and Analysis $23.96 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska $216.89 PERSONNEL Although the workload of the Survey has grown dramatically during the past 6 years, its permanent employment has risen very little from 8,089 at the end of fiscal year 1973 to 9,470 at the end of fiscal year 1979, an increase of 17 percent. The increased responsibilities pursuant to the scientific mission have been accomplished with an essentially level full-time personnel work force; virtually all of the increases in full-time personnel have been directed to the rapid increases in the regulatory mission as energy exploration and development expands on Federal lands. Although much of the program increases have been "contracted out" as described in the preceding section, a substantial share of the additional work is being performed by the Survey's other-than-permanent employees, the number of which has more than doubled since fiscal year 1973, as shown in figure 1. The Survey has profited greatly from its historic relationship with this group, which has given it access to eminent specialists in many fields and has afforded it great flexibility in meeting surges in the workload. The arrangement also has unique advantages in bringing the academic community into close and continuing contact with Government on a personal level. Staff distribution among the several Divisions is shown in figure 2. Scientists, engineers, and other professional people comprise roughly one-half of the Survey's total permanent staff, and technical specialists account for an additional 34 percent. Hydrologists and geologists predominate among the professional corps, 9 percent of whom have doctoral degrees. These and other aspects of the Survey's permanent work force are presented graphically in figure 3. |