Excerpts from The U.S. Geological Survey: 1879-1989

By Mary C. Rabbitt

Establishment of the U.S. Geological Survey

Deterioration of the economy led to another consideration of the problem of mapping the West in 1878. The King survey had by this time completed its reports, but the Hayden, Powell, and Wheeler surveys were still in the field. This time Congress turned to the National Academy of Sciences and asked it to recommend a plan for surveying and mapping the Territories of the United States that would secure the best possible results at the least possible cost. A committee of seven members appointed by the Academy recommended that the Coast and Geodetic Survey be transferred from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of the Interior, renamed the "Coast and Interior Survey," and be given responsibility for geodetic, topographic, and land-parceling surveys in addition to its existing work. The Academy committee also recommended that an independent organization, to be called the U.S. Geological Survey, be established in the Interior Department to study the geological structure and economic resources of the public domain.

Legislation to rename the Coast and Geodetic Survey and transfer it to the Department of the Interior and to establish the U.S. Geological Survey for "classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain" [from Organic Act of the U.S. Geological Survey] was included in the bill appropriating funds for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Federal Government for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1879. An appropriation for the expenses of the new national geological survey was included in the sundry civil expenses bill.

The transfer of the land-parceling surveys to a Coast and Interior Survey aroused strong opposition among Congressmen from Western States, and the bill was amended to exclude the public-land surveys from the work of the Coast and Interior Survey. There were few objections to the Geological Survey, and Congressman A.S. Hewitt of New York, who had initiated the Academy study, spoke most eloquently about the value of the study of mineral resources to the future development and prosperity of the Nation. The bill was then passed and sent to the Senate.

The Senate took up the sundry civil expenses bill first, and amended the item for the expenses of the geological survey so that it became $100,000 for the Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, in other words, the Hayden survey. The bill then went to a conference committee to iron out the differences between the two houses. The Senate voted to delete the entire section on the reorganization of the surveys from the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses bill, making the Senate action a clear triumph for Hayden, and sent it to conference.

The Democratic House and Republican Senate were far apart on some items in the bill, unrelated to the Survey legislation, and it became evident that agreement could not be reached before adjournment. The Senate and House conferees on the sundry civil bill, among them Hewitt, then agreed to combine into one item the sections in the House version of the legislative bill establishing the geological survey and the House version of the appropriation for the expenses of the U.S. Geological Survey. Thus the U.S. Geological Survey was established, by a last-minute amendment, to classify the public lands--94 years after the Land Ordinance of 1785 first directed their surveying and classification--and to examine the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain. The legislation provided that the Hayden, Powell, and Wheeler surveys be discontinued as of June 30, 1879. Congress also established a public lands commission, of which the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey would be a member, to prepare a codification of laws relating to the survey and disposition of the public domain, a system and standard of classification of public lands, a system of land-parceling surveys adapted to the economic use of the several classes of lands, and recommendations for disposal of the public lands in the western portion of the United States to actual settlers.

Organizing the U.S. Geological Survey

Hayden, who had been directing geological surveys in the Department of the Interior for a dozen years, was the obvious candidate to be director of the new national survey, but a small group that considered Clarence King better qualified undertook to secure the appointment for him. On March 20, 1879, President Hayes sent to the Senate the nomination of Clarence King to be the first Director of the U.S. Geological Survey. The Senate confirmed the nomination on April 3, and King took the oath of office on May 24.

The Fortieth Parallel Exploration under King's direction had led the way in converting western exploration to an exact science. His new position gave him a unique opportunity to influence the development of Federal geology.

The first duty enjoined on the Geological Survey was the "classification of the public lands." In the year that the Geological Survey was established, the Federal Government still held title to more than 1.2 billion acres of land, nearly all of it west of the Mississippi River, of which only 200 million had been surveyed. The edge of settlement was at about 102 degrees West; beyond the frontier were only isolated pockets or belts of settlement, and in vast areas beyond the frontier, the population was officially less than one per square mile.

Nearly all the public lands were within the arid region as defined by John Wesley Powell in his 1878 "Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States." Water was the region's most precious resource, but Powell had pointed out that very little of the remaining public land was suitable for conventional farming and that only a small fraction of the arid land was irrigable. He then proposed radical changes in the land system, including organization of irrigation and pasturage districts, which suggested that water was more of a sociopolitical than a scientific problem.

Many of the isolated small pockets or belts west of the frontier owed their initial and some their continued existence to miners or prospectors, but the larger and more profitable mining industry was in the States east of the 100th meridian--Pennsylvania was the leading mining State in the Nation. Just eight commodities--gold, silver, iron, coal, copper, lead, zinc, and petroleum--accounted for nearly 99 percent of the value of the mineral production in the United States; the greater part of the precious metals and lead came from the area west of the 100th meridian, but the rest came from the States east of that line.

The very brief enabling legislation did not define in detail the duties of the new organization, thus leaving much to the Director's judgment. King concluded that the Geological Survey's classification of the public lands, especially as Congress had made no change in the General Land Office, was not meant to supersede the classification made by the Land Office as a basis for granting title, and the Public Lands Commission agreed. To meet the requirement for classification, King therefore planned a series of land maps to provide information for agriculturists, miners, engineers, timbermen, and political economists.

The duty of examining the geologic structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain offered many possibilities. The year in which the Survey was established, however, was one of great monetary uncertainty--knowledge of precious-metal resources was vital; the iron and steel industry faced problems in obtaining suitable raw materials and information about the Nation's mineral wealth, mining and metallurgical techniques, and production statistics was meager. For the Survey's initial program of work, therefore, King chose to emphasize mining geology, to devote but a small effort to general geology, and to confine paleontology and topographic mapping to what was necessary to support the geologic studies. Although King in so doing emphasized practical studies at the expense of basic studies, he nonetheless expected that the facts gathered in the mining-geology studies would lead to advances in basic science.

The term "national domain" in the organic act provided a problem. The framers of the law had used the term to mean all lands within the national boundaries without having to name all the States and Territories, but an Interior Department attorney ruled that it meant the lands to which the Government had not parted title, that is, the public lands. The literal interpretation of that ruling would preclude work in a mining district where most of the land had become private property. King asked Congress to clarify the meaning, and the House promptly extended the field of the Geological Survey to the entire Nation, but Congress adjourned before the Senate acted. For the first year, therefore, King decided to confine operations to the public-land regions though not to the public lands.

Clarence (Rivers) King Director 1879-1881

King set high standards of professional competence for employment by the USGS, expected from each employee the highest quality work, and instilled in the organization the desire to achieve excellence in science and in service of the Nation. He began work of economic import, some in cooperation with the Tenth Decennial Census of 1880, anticipating the accumulation of data to aid the advance of science. During King's tenure, the work in the economic geology of metals was begun, supported by work in geophysics, petrography and paleontology, and topographic mapping. Direct appropriations rose from $106,000 to $156,000.

John Wesley Powell Director 1881-1894

Powell pressed topographic mapping vigorously and made it independent of geology, recognizing that it provided a base not only for geological mapping but for guiding and planning land use. In geology, he stressed geologic mapping, paleontology, and stratigraphy, arguing that these basic parts of the science must be completed before any economic application could be made. Powell broadened the work of the USGS, merging it with that of the Bureau of Ethnology, of which he was also Director, and used the short-lived Irrigation Survey authorized by Congress in 1888 to further the topographic mapping program and to investigate surface-water measurements. USGS funding reached $879,000 in FY 1890. Powell's philosophy so antagonized Congress that USGS appropriations were severely cut in 1892 (Powell then RIF'ed the agency) and he was forced from office.

Charles Doolittle Walcott Director 1894-1907

Walcott revived the standards set by King and established the principle that basic and applied science are dependent on each other and cannot be separated. He broadened the work of the USGS to include aid to all industries that might be affected by knowledge of the Earth and secured continuing appropriations in 1894 for hydrographic work, in 1897 for surveying and classifying the forest lands, in 1899 for investigations of Alaskan mineral resources, and in 1904 for investigations of fuels and structural materials. During his directorate, Walcott played a significant role in securing enactment of the reclamation law in 1902 and inaugurated the work that was the basis for establishment of the Bureau of Mines in 1910. He was considered the ideal administrator by those who served under him and by many in Congress, and during his tenure the USGS was widely respected. USGS funds exceeded $1 million, including $962,000 in direct appropriations, in FY 1901.

George Otis Smith Director 1907-1930

Smith held that the USGS's work should be primarily, although not exclusively, practical or useful. Before becoming Director, he had become interested in developing a business policy for the management of public domain, an interest that may have been a factor in his selection as Director. For several years, Smith emphasized the primacy of work in the public domain. The Land Classification Board was established in 1908 and developed into the Conservation Branch (later Division) in 1925. During his first 10 years in office, Federal appropriations for the USGS increased only 6 percent, although total funds increased 53 percent, so that outside agencies had a substantial influence on USGS programs. Twice during that period, the USGS experienced a brain drain, as industry and the academic world raided the Survey's staff. During his later years, particularly under the influence of Herbert Hoover, Smith noted the necessity for research but at the end of his term he considered his greatest achievement to have been the degree to which the public domain was administered on a scientific basis.

Walter Curran Mendenhall Director 1930-1943

Mendenhall, one of the USGS's most persistent advocates of basic research, became Director about a year after the start of the Great Depression and retired midway through World War II, when planning the postwar world became a major preoccupation in Washington. Through enormous fluctuations in funds, from great austerity to comparative wealth, and whether the funds were directly appropriated or from emergency public works or other agencies, he adhered to his oft-repeated axiom that "To apply science to human needs, there must be science to apply" and research became a fundamental part of nearly all programs. Thus, during Mendenhall's directorate, the USGS's reputation as a research institution was firmly established.

William Embry Wrather Director 1943-1956

Wrather presided over the beginning of the great expansion of the USGS that followed World War II. When he took office, the Survey had fewer than 2,500 employees and operating funds of $11.1 million, less than half of which were directly appropriated. When he retired, there were approximately 7,000 employees and operating funds of $49.3 million, of which $27.9 million (56.5 percent) were directly appropriated. Within a few months of becoming Director, Wrather persuaded T. B. Nolan to serve as Acting Director while he was on a mission to Arabia and then convinced the Interior Department and Congress that the USGS needed an Assistant Director, a position to which Nolan was appointed in December 1944. The two men complemented each other, and as Wrather pushed Congress for funds "to replenish the capital of fundamental research," Nolan kept an eye on internal operations to ensure that this objective was vigorously pursued.

Thomas Brennan Nolan Director 1956-1965

Nolan directed USGS expansion from operating funds of $49.3 million to $104.9 million, of which $69.1 million (66 percent) were directly appropriated and, at the same time, broadened and intensified the commitment to fundamental research and the advancement of geology in the public service. He was unequivocal in his support of fundamental research and unyielding in his demand for excellence, and the USGS rose to his challenge. In addition to coping with new dimensions in the problems of supplying mineral, fuel, and water resources for the Nation, of mapping the national domain, and directing conservation of the public domain, the USGS began studies of the peaceful uses of atomic energy and the disposal of radioactive wastes, of geologic hazards, urban and coastal geology, the exploration of the Moon, and the resources of the seas.

William Thomas Pecora Director 1965-1971

Pecora directed USGS programs that were a blend of old and new. An exploration program largely devoted to gold, because of its monetary importance, was begun in cooperation with the Bureau of Mines. Appraisals of mineral resources of the Nation or the world were made on a continuing basis and, at the same time, the mineral-resource potential of Primitive Areas within the United States was evaluated. A program to use remote-sensing instruments, in Earth-orbiting satellites, to gather facts about the Earth's surface and resources was developed. A multidisciplinary approach forwarded studies of land use in developing areas, particularly in areas of geologic hazards, and in studies of potential damage to the environment. Astronauts trained by the USGS landed on the Moon in July 1969.

Vincent Ellis McKelvey Director 1971-1978

McKelvey became Director of an organization of 9,200 employees, with an annual operating budget of $173 million. Planetary studies were extended; in 1971, plans were made to map Mars and in 1976 two spacecraft landed on its surface. The first Earth Resources Technology Satellite (later Landsat-1) was launched in 1972. A Land Resources Analysis Program was begun in 1972 to provide earth-science data for land-use planning. The Land Information and Analysis Office was established in 1975 as a focal point for multidisciplinary studies and to bring about a closer interaction between scientists, engineers, and decision makers. Marine geology was expanded to include resource appraisals, environmental, geochemical, and engineering studies, and the use of the remote-sensing instruments in deep-sea areas. In 1976, the USGS was given the responsibility for administering the exploration of Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4 (redesignated as the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska) and the operation on the South Barrow Gas Field in Alaska.

Henry William Menard Director 1978-1981

Menard became Director of an agency of 13,000 employees, with an annual operating budget of $640 million; the USGS celebrated its 100^th anniversary on March 3, 1979, with its name and most of its missions intact. During his directorate, investigations of earthquakes and volcanic phenomena were expanded, especially as they related to the prediction of geologic hazards events and the mitigation of their effects, such as the eruptions of Mount St. Helens that began in 1980. Mineral appraisal programs were strengthened in the conterminous U.S. and in Alaska. Several programs begun in earlier years were brought to fruition, including the "quiet revolution" in mapping brought about through the Digital Cartographic Applications Program, the National Water-Use Data Program, and studies of the contamination of ground water. Resumption of oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf led to increased work by the USGS in offshore areas.

Dallas Lynn Peck Director 1981-1993

Peck inherited an organization of nearly 9,500 people and an annual operating budget of $784 million-80 percent in direct appropriations and the remainder in reimbursements. Under Peck's leadership, the USGS improved and expanded its national and international work on mineral resources; global change; and geologic and other natural hazards, including the risk assessment and management of earthquakes, landslides, land subsidence, and volcanic eruptions. The agency continued to employ land-use planning to mitigate the effects of these and other natural disasters such as hurricanes and floods. The USGS participated in United Nations and Federal committees in science, engineering, and technology, used side-scan sonar imagery to map the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone, began new partnerships with the National Park Service and other agencies, helped to host the 28^th International Geological Congress in Washington, and increased its cooperative-mapping activities with the States and academe under the National Geologic Mapping Act. The Land and Remote Sensing Policy Act designated USGS-EROS as the procurement, archival, and distribution center for the Landsat program. The USGS intensified its studies on coastal and wetland areas, investigated acid rain, high-plains aquifers, and toxic waste, and began the National Water Summary (1983) and the National Water-Quality Assessment Program (1986). The USGS led the Federal Geographic Data Committee in implementing the National Spatial Data Infrastructure. The agency completed the national topographic-mapping program (via orthophotogrammetry) at 1:24,000, topographically mapped Mars at three scales, expanded its digital cartographic and geographic-data systems (including GIS and CD-ROM), advanced the National Geographic Names Database, supplied 1:100,000 digital coverage for the 1990 Decennial Census, and issued the initial volume of the National Gazetteer. In 1982, the Conservation Division and related marine-geology programs passed to Interior's new Minerals Management Service.

Gordon Pryor Eaton Director 1993-1997

Eaton directed a USGS with almost 10,000 members and a total operating budget of $886 million in FY 1994, of which 66 percent represented directly appropriated funds. In 1994, conservative think-tanks called for abolishing USGS; although the 104^th Congress elected that year did not do so, the legislators and President Clinton disestablished the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) and the National Biological Service (NBS) in 1996. When USBM functions passed to Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior, USBM's 170 mineral-information specialists joined the USGS to renew activities shifted to USBM in 1925. Some 1,600 NBS researchers and managers also transferred to USGS in 1996 to form its fourth program unit--the Biological Resources Division. Eaton increasingly regionalized the USGS and its program divisions by establishing regional directors and regional management for the program divisions in the style of the Water Resources Division. Eaton moved to change the Geologic Division from what he termed a "patron of science" to a more mission-oriented organization, one with more programmatic activities and better equipped to meet customer requirements. Funding limitations led to a reduction-in-force in Geologic Division in 1995. In 1997, the USGS introduced a new visual identifier--a new logo and new motto "Science for a Changing World" to replace "Science in the Public Service"--and began work on an electronic National Atlas. The agency pursued eight "business activities"--water availability and quality, natural hazards, geographic and cartographic information, contaminated environments, land and water use, nonrenewable resources, environmental effects on human health, and biological resources.

Charles George Groat Director 1998-

In FY 1999, the USGS received $798 million in direct appropriations and the net cost of its operations reached $854 million. As Director, Groat continued Eaton's efforts to raise the USGS's profile and to increase the agency's funding, outreach, and partnerships. He introduced the slogan "One mission, one bureau," to link the agency's principal theme areas of hazards, natural resources, environment, and information management. Groat worked to promote USGS activities that would integrate Earth and biological systems (concentrating on causes and rates of change), develop in real time a national hazard-warning system, eliminate conflicts between business practices and operations, improve interactions with customers and partners, and increase management effectiveness and efficiency. For FY 2004, the USGS employed some 9,000 persons and received direct appropriations of $950 million.