U.S. Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific agency of the U.S. government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it.
Founded on March 3, 1879, it is an unbiased, fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility. Since 1962, it has been involved in global, lunar and planetary exploration and mapping. Part of the United States Department of the Interior, it is its sole scientific agency. The USGS employs approximately 10,000 people and is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, with major offices in Denver, Colorado and Menlo Park, California.
The USGS is the primary civilian mapping agency in the United States, and is best known for its 1:24,000 scale, 7.5-minute quadrangle topographic maps.
The motto of the USGS is "science for a changing world" .
Organization
The USGS has four major science displines:
- Water
- Geology
- Geography
- Biology
