On August 1, USGS scientist Robert Holmes will give a lecture about the anatomy of floods in relation to the 2011 Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee landfalls.

Flooding costs the United States more than $7 billion per year and claims over 90 lives annually. During the Spring and Summer of 2011, flooding associated with snowmelt and rain devastated the Central U.S. while Hurricane Irene followed by Tropical Storm Lee caused severe and unrelenting flooding in the East and Northeastern U.S. Join us on August 1 to learn more about the anatomy of flooding: What are the different causes of these extreme events, and how is USGS science helping prepare residents for future foods.
FREE and Open to the Public
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Date: Wednesday, August 1, 2011, 7:00-8:00 PM
Location: 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20192
Phone:  703-648-4748
Visit our website!
About the Lecture Series
The USGS Science in Action public lecture series in Reston, VA is a monthly event. These evening events are free to the public and intended for a general audience to familiarize them with science issues that are meaningful to our daily lives.
The USGS speakers are selected for their ability and enthusiasm to share their expertise with an audience that may be unfamiliar with the topic.
The USGS lecture series provides the public an opportunity to interact with scientists and ask questions about recent developments in biology, geography, geology, water resources, climate change, energy and more. Ultimately, the goal is to create a better understanding of the importance and value of USGS Science in Action.
Contact: Melanie Gade

“Discoveries in science and technology not only strengthen our economy, they inspire us as a people,” President Obama said.  “The impressive accomplishments of today’s awardees so early in their careers promise even greater advances in the years ahead.”

The Presidential early career awards embody the high priority the Obama Administration places on producing outstanding scientists and engineers to advance the Nation’s goals, tackle grand challenges, and contribute to the American economy.

USGS scientist Joe Colgan

Joe Colgan Has Pioneered Methods to Study Faults and Minerals in the West

Colgan’s research investigates the origins and evolution of the Basin and Range Province, a vast geologic region that covers much of the Western U.S. and parts of northern Mexico. Colgan integrates various scientific techniques, such as regional structural analysis, high-precision geochronometry, and geologic mapping, in order to learn more about the fault zones and mineral formations that exist in this region.

“Everyone at the USGS is cheering the President’s selection of Joseph Colgan for this highest honor!” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “It is such a stunning affirmation of our deeply held belief that tackling the Nation’s foremost issues such as providing new sources of energy and minerals or keeping people safe from natural hazards does not come at the expense of doing world class basic research.”

Read more about Joe Colgan.

USGS scientist Karen Felzer

Karen Felzer Has Developed New Ways to Study Earthquake Triggering

Felzer has contributed to the understanding of earthquake triggering, earthquake probability, and aftershock probability. Her work has greatly expanded the knowledge of how aftershocks relate to the main earthquake and shown the value of statistical analysis in seismic hazard research.

“While to date earthquakes have defied prediction in a deterministic sense, Karen Felzer is focusing on those aspects of their behavior that show intriguingly reproducible statistics, such as the relationship of aftershocks to main shocks,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “The President’s recognition of Karen as a Presidential early career award winner is an investment in unlocking the secrets of one of the most complex and deadly phenomenon on the planet.”

Read more about Karen Felzer.

USGS scientist Justin Hagerty

Justin Hagerty Has Helped to Explain the Formation and Evolution of the Moon

Hagerty, an accomplished research geologist, studied the formation of the Moon and discovered the answer to a long-standing riddle of the Moon’s early history. His use of chemical tracers and remote sensing data allowed him to discover why certain elements are concentrated in some areas and not in others, a puzzle which had complicated the primary theory of how the Moon came to be.

“The USGS traces its program in astrogeology back nearly 50 years to the Nation’s need to train astronauts destined for the Moon in lunar geology,” said USGS Director Marcia McNutt. “The President’s recognition of Justin Hagerty for his contributions to explaining long-standing paradoxes concerning the early evolution of the only extraterrestrial body to which man has yet ventured is one of the highest honors yet for this exceptional program.”

Read more about Justin Hagerty.

Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers

The Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers was established by President Clinton in 1996 and are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach.

A car approaches a dust storm near Winslow, Arizona, in April 2011. In drought years, low vegetation cover and disturbance to soil surfaces leads to more dust storms.

Dust storms that rolled across the Arizona desert July 21-22, 2012, effectively blinded motorists, knocked out electricity for thousands of people and grounded airline flights.

The weekend storms, 50 miles wide and up to 10,000 feet high, were followed by additional storm warnings into the following week. Like the storms that passed through Phoenix in July and October 2011, they carried large quantities of airborne particulates and caused considerable property damage and potential harm to human health.

But what is causing these storms?

USGS and partner research shows that there are many causes of dust storms. Two contributing factors are low vegetation cover and disturbance to soil surfaces.

Vegetation contributes to ecological integrity. The presence of plants reduces soil erosion and dust storms, because it keeps the soil intact, reduces wind momentum, and traps moving soil particles (See Figure 1). In spaces between the plants, many undisturbed desert soils are naturally armored by hardened physical and biological crusts.

Low vegetation cover can especially be a problem in drought years in abandoned agricultural fields, which are generally dominated by annual plants. This means that the consequences of dust storms, including motor vehicle crashes, are high in a drought year and low in years with more precipitation (See Figure 2).

Figure 1: The presence of plants reduces soil erosion and dust storms because it keeps the soil intact, reduces wind momentum, and traps moving soil particles. Intact soil surfaces, which may include soil crusts, can also reduce the risk of dust storms.

Similarly, in places where land-use activities destroy or reduce soil crusts and weaken soil stability, experts know to assume higher dust storm activity than in places where soils are left undisturbed.

Future climate scenarios predict that drought conditions will worsen, and therefore more dust storms are likely.

Nevertheless, site restoration and reduced disturbance can mitigate some of the factors that promote dust emission. The USGS and land managers are working together to better understand the causes and sources of dust storm activity in the southwestern United States.

Figure 2: The number of motor vehicle crashes caused by dust storms in Arizona has generally been lower when the annual precipitation has been higher. In a changing climate, climate scenarios predict more drought, which will likely mean more dust storms. But site restoration and reduced disturbance can mitigate some factors that promote dust emissions.

Drought conditions on the Arkansas River at Great Bend, Kansas on July 13, 2012. Photo by Nathan Sullivan, USGS.

Almost 80 percent of the contiguous United States is facing abnormally dry conditions right now. In fact, much of the lower half of the country is facing at least severe to extreme drought. To make matters worse, scientists are not expecting relief any time soon. In many of these areas, drought is predicted to continue to get worse.

Drought is the nation’s most costly natural disaster, far exceeding earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes and floods. FEMA has estimated that the annual average cost of drought in the United States ranges from $6 to $8 billion. (By comparison, the annual costs of flooding are in the $2 to $4 billion range.) Unlike flooding, drought does not come and go in a single episode. Rather, it often takes a long time for drought to begin to impact an area, and it can fester for months or even years.

Start with Science

In order to reduce the impacts of drought, governments and managers rely on objective and unbiased scientific information about trends in streamflow, precipitation, and other factors that contribute to drought, so that they can understand where drought is occurring, how long it is likely to impact an area, and where drought is likely to strike next.

Droughts can be subdivided into three types: meteorological, agricultural, and hydrologic drought. A meteorological drought begins with precipitation deficiency, high temperatures and winds, and low humidity. As soil moisture is reduced, plants and agriculture are stressed, leading to agricultural drought. When drought causes streamflow to be reduced, the result is a hydrologic drought.

You can view areas of low stream flow in real time at USGS WaterWatch. The map shows how current flows compare to what would be normal for a given time of year based on historical averages. Right now, almost the entire country is experiencing below normal conditions. The bright red coloring on the map indicates, for example, that flows in Georgia are especially low. While this map is an adequate real-time gauge for areas experiencing hydrologic drought, stream and river conditions are not the only drought indicator.

Drought conditions at Lake Hartwell, SC. Photo by Carol J. VanDyke, USGS (2011).

The national Drought Monitor is the official report detailing drought conditions, and this map paints a fuller picture of drought than just stream flow information. In addition to relying heavily on USGS streamgage data, this map also incorporates soil moisture, agricultural information, satellite data, and precipitation.

The map — a product of NOAA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Drought Mitigation Center — is prepared in consultation with scientists from several agencies, including the USGS. It portrays a comprehensive geographic assessment of areas experiencing drought, as well as the severity of drought.  For example, when The Weather Channel reports on drought conditions in the country, they use the Drought Monitor map. This map also has economic significance, because it is used by many states as the basis for declaring a drought emergency and requesting federal funding.

In addition to the Drought Monitor, which tracks current and historic drought conditions, every month the National Weather Service produces a Drought Outlook, with bi-weekly updates based primarily on precipitation information. The latest report, released on July 5, indicates that drought is likely to develop, persist, or intensify across much of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, the Corn Belt region, the middle and lower Mississippi Valley, and much of the Great Plains.

How Does This Drought Compare to Past Droughts?

That’s a tough question, because the answer depends on a variety of factors: how you define drought, the specific parts of the country affected by drought, and the time of year.  However, the most extensive area of drought during the past century occurred in July 1934 during the dust bowl when 80 percent of the contiguous United States was in moderate to exceptional drought.  By comparison, the area in moderate to exceptional drought in June 2012 was 57 percent.  So the current drought, though severe, is not as extensive as that which occurred during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s.

Additionally, as a nation we prepare better for today’s droughts, by using reservoirs more strategically and by putting other mechanisms in place to mitigate the impacts of drought. Most states have a plan to ensure there is enough water available when signs point to dry futures. For example, Virginia’s plan allows managers to issue emergency permits for water or even bring in water from elsewhere depending on drought severity. Other plans guide states in preparing for and proactively lessening drought. For example, Nebraska has a plan that includes incentives for water conservation, steps for awareness campaigns, protection of stream flows, and assessments of the most vulnerable areas.

While the Souris River is in the throes of record high flooding in Minot, N.D., O.C. Fisher Lake near San Angelo, Texas has been experiencing the exact opposite for a number of years now – a ground-cracking drought. These locations have more than their extreme water conditions in common. Though about 1,000 miles apart, these places are situated north and south of each other just west of the 100th meridian of longitude. Photo by Travis Dowell, USGS, June 23, 2011.

You can find out about low water levels in real-time with USGS WaterAlert. This USGS service allows you to automatically receive a text or email from a USGS streamgage when waters go below a certain threshold that you choose. Sign up for WaterAlert online by selecting a state, checking the “surface water” box, and clicking on your streamgage of choice.

Will Droughts Get Worse with Climate Change?

Drought is a normal component of our climate. Because of the way weather patterns work, there is always precipitation somewhere in the atmosphere and a lack of precipitation somewhere else. Certain areas are more prone to drought, but drought can happen anywhere.

While scientists agree that climate change will cause temperatures to continue to rise, changes to precipitation patterns are less certain. At the time, extrapolating these loose precipitation predictions to drought impacts is nearly impossible. Scientists agree that it is still very difficult to make generalized statements about how climate change will impact drought.

USGS Drought Information in Your State

While drought is affecting multiple states across the country, here is a glimpse at a few local impacts.

Oklahoma experienced a year of extreme heat and drought last year, due to high temperatures and precipitation deficits. Although precipitation has returned to near normal so far this year, Oklahoma is still in the grip of a hydrological drought. The USGS Oklahoma Water Science Center is working on multiple projects that provide reliable, impartial, and timely information to resource managers, planners, and other customers about drought. These federally-funded activities in Oklahoma emphasize regional assessments of surface-water and groundwater conditions, how natural processes and human activities affect those conditions through time, development of new tools and techniques for understanding complex hydrologic systems, effects of drought, and planning for drought.

The Colorado River runs dry on the U.S./Mexico border 2 miles below the Morelos Dam. Photo by Pete McBride, USGS, Jan 13, 2009

In Arkansas, streamflows across the state are about 10 – 50 percent of normal streamflow expected during this time of year. Some streams are exhibiting less than one percent of the normal streamflow expected. USGS scientists in Arkansas are studying the effects of climate on water levels, and have determined that long-term continuous monitoring is important to evaluating the effects of climate variability.

Western Texas continues to experience extreme drought, though winter and spring rains provided modest relief to the 2011 drought.   Although central Texas has gotten some recent rains, reservoirs are still well below capacity in many areas. Even with recent flooding in the Houston area , about 90% of the wells measured in the Gulf Coast Aquifer during the winter of 2011-12 showed water level declines. Additionally, statewide reservoir storage in 2011 was the lowest on record since 1978.

In Colorado streamflow in early July was below normal at more than 80 percent of the USGS long-term monitoring stations.  Record low flows were recorded at 23 of 127 long term monitoring stations. Severe hydrologic drought is primarily occurring in the upper Colorado River Basin, the upper Arkansas Basin, and parts of southwestern Colorado. The Rio Grande and South Platte Basins are experiencing moderate hydrologic drought while flows in the lower Arkansas Basin remain below normal.

In Kansas, USGS scientists are measuring the lowest flows since the 1950s for the Arkansas River, as well as several other rivers across the state. The North Fork of the Ninnescah River is running low enough that the creek temperature have hit 103 degrees.

USGS International Drought Science: Famine Early Warning Systems Network

The ability to grow crops in drought conditions is of high concern for many populations of the developing world. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which is an activity of the U.S. Agency for International Development and its office Food for Peace, identifies populations with the most food insecurity, examining critical situations in which food aid will be needed. FEWS NET research was used to provide early warning of drought and the potential for the outbreak of famine conditions in Ethiopia and Kenya and Somalia in 2011. Another successful forecast was made in the spring of 2012 that helped motivate effective humanitarian responses in Kenya and Ethiopia.

The Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI) incorporates satellite observations of vegetation to monitor at a finer spatial detail than other commonly used drought indicators.

FEWS NET also helps target more than $1.5 billion of assistance to more than 40 countries each year. As an implementing partner of FEWS NET, the USGS contributes remote sensing data and analyses to monitor and warn of impending drought and potential food insecurity, as well as providing scientific studies for informing adaptation to climate change. The FEWS NET program currently works in Africa, Asia, Central America, and Haiti, with the hope of expanding to global coverage in the near future.

Links and Resources:

• USGS WaterWatch
• National Streamflow Information Program
• Cooperative Water Program
• National Drought Monitor
• NOAA Drought Outlook
• Droughts of the Past

For local details and impacts related to drought, please contact your State Climatologist or Regional Climate Center

Time: Thursday, July 26, 2012 • 7-8pm
Speaker: Manuela Huso
Location: 345 Middlefield Road, Building 3 Auditorium, second floor, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Phone:  650-329-4000

FREE and Open to the Public

Follow this event live streaming over the Internet!

This announcement and directions can be found online.

Time: Thursday, June 28, 2012 • 7-8pm
Speakers: David Finlayson
Location: 345 Middlefield Road, Building 3 Auditorium, second floor, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Phone:  650-329-4000

FREE and Open to the Public
Follow this event live streaming over the Internet!

This announcement and directions can be found online.

A satellite image of the Gulf of Mexico and coastline.

Every summer for the past several decades, a large dead zone has threatened the economic and ecological health of the Gulf of Mexico, the nation’s largest and most productive fishery.

This dead zone occurs because of excessive nutrients entering the rivers, lakes, and estuaries that feed into or make up the Gulf of Mexico. Nitrogen and phosphorus are essential nutrients for plant growth, but too much of them can stimulate algal growth. And as algae die, they sink to the bottom of the water and decompose, all the while robbing the water body of the oxygen needed for aquatic life to thrive.

The result? Oxygen levels can drop too low to support most life in bottom and near bottom waters, creating a hypoxic or dead zone.

The size of each year’s hypoxic zone is primarily determined by the amount of nutrients flowing from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin into the northern Gulf of Mexico – particularly the nutrient flow during April and May. Agricultural inputs are the largest source of these nutrients, though inputs from atmospheric deposition, urban areas, and wastewater treatment plants also contribute.

The largest Gulf hypoxic zone on record was in 2002, when the dead zone encompassed more than 8,400 square miles. Over the past five years, however, the size of the zone has shrunk to about 6,700 square miles — an area roughly the size of the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. The size of the hypoxic zone varies each year depending on stream flows and nutrient inputs from the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River, as well as the climate, weather, and circulation patterns in the Gulf of Mexico.

Each June, a team of NOAA-supported researchers develops forecast models to predict the size of the mid-summer Gulf hypoxic zone. The forecast is based on Mississippi River nutrient inputs compiled annually by the USGS to help monitor the amount of excess nutrients flowing into the Gulf and causing hypoxia in the water.

This year, USGS scientists estimate that 58,100 metric tons of nitrogen were transported down the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers into the Gulf of Mexico during May, which is about 56 percent below average conditions. Stream flows were nearly half that of normal conditions for this period, resulting in less nutrient transport to the Gulf.

A team of NOAA-supported scientists from the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Louisiana State University and the University of Michigan is predicting that this year’s Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone could range from approximately 1,200 square miles to as much as about 6,200 square miles.  The wide range is the result of using two different forecast models.

The smaller dead zone forecast, covering an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island, comes from the University of Michigan researchers. Their predicted size is based solely on the current year’s spring nutrient inputs from the Mississippi River which are significantly lower than average due to drought conditions throughout much of the river watershed.

The larger dead zone forecast, the equivalent of an area the size of the state of Connecticut, is from Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium and Louisiana State University scientists. The Louisiana forecast model includes prior year’s nutrient inputs which can remain in bottom sediments and be recycled the following year. Last year’s flood, followed by this year’s low flows, increased the influence of this “carryover effect” on the second model’s prediction.

These predictions and a scientific understanding of hypoxia are important because a more severe dead zone could lead to the decline of ecologically and commercially important species.

In 2009, for example, commercial fisheries in the Gulf were worth $629 million. In addition, three million recreational fishermen took 22 million fishing trips to the Gulf and contributed more than $1 billion to the Gulf economy.

The Gulf of Mexico/Mississippi River Watershed Nutrient Task Force is striving to reduce the size of the five-year average hypoxic zone to about 1,930 square miles. The task force’s 2008 Action Plan lists several possible steps that would help reach this goal.

USGS continues to be at the forefront of research that contributes to our understanding of the factors that determine the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico and other impaired waters. This research is critical to keeping the nation’s water bodies healthy because, as a 2010 interagency report documented, the incidents of hypoxia in U.S. coastal waters has increased over the last decades, with more than 300 U.S. coastal water bodies affected.

The USGS has been monitoring nutrient transport across the nation for several decades, and recently released an online, interactive decision support system that provides easy access to six newly developed regional models describing how rivers receive and transport nutrients from natural and human sources to sensitive waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico. This online tool can be used to evaluate alternative nutrient reduction scenarios and develop science-based estimates of how changes in nutrient sources affect the transport of nutrients to local streams, as well as downstream reservoirs and estuaries.

Collage: USGS scientists handle a Burmese python in the Everglades; USGS scientists pull in a net full of mostly Bighead Carp ; two USGS scientists display a bighead Carp in the bottom left hand corner.

Over the last several decades, non-native species have continued to invade sensitive ecosystems in the United States.  Two high-profile species, Asian carp in the Midwest and Burmese pythons in the Everglades, are the focus of much attention by decision makers, the public and the media. USGS scientists will discuss issues related to invasive species and explain innovative methods used to help detect and control these invaders.

Time: Wednesday, July 11, 2012 • 7-8pm
Speakers: Sharon Gross, Robert Reed and Cynthia Kolar
Location: 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20192
Phone:  703-648-4748
Please Note: This event takes place at a Federal Facility — Photo Id is Required

FREE and Open to the Public
Follow this event live on Twitter @USGSLive

This announcement and directions can be found online.

Requests for accommodations (i.e. sign language interpreting) require notice at least two weeks before the event. Please email jcorley@usgs.gov or call 703-648-7770.

The USGS public lectures are held monthly in Reston, Virginia. These evening events are free to the public and intended to familiarize a general audience with science issues that are meaningful to their daily lives. USGS speakers are selected for their ability and enthusiasm to share their expertise with an audience that may be unfamiliar with the topic; speakers are encouraged to thoroughly explain the subject matter and to define any words or terms that may be unfamiliar.

The USGS lecture series provides the public an opportunity to interact with USGS scientists and ask questions about recent developments in Natural Hazards; Water; Energy Minerals and Environmental Health; Climate and Land Use Change; Ecosystems; and Core Science Systems. Ultimately, the goal is to create a better understanding of the importance and value of USGS science in action.

Ice Waves. Along the southeastern coast of Greenland, an intricate network of fjords funnels glacial ice to the Atlantic Ocean. Landsat 7 Image.

During a span of 40 years, since 1972, the Landsat series of Earth observation satellites has become a vital reference worldwide for understanding scientific issues related to changes on the Earth’s surface.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Landsat, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) would like your help in selecting the top five “Earth as Art” images from the more than 120 images in the collection.

The poll is now open and will close on July 6.

Learn more and get details on how to cast your vote.

The top five “Earth as Art” images will be announced on July 23 in Washington, D.C. at a special event commemorating the launch of the first Landsat satellite.

Information as Art

Built by NASA and operated by the USGS, Landsat satellites supply Earth scientists, land-resource managers, and policy makers with objective data about changes across the global landscape. Some changes, like major floods or volcanic eruptions, come quickly; others, like urban sprawl or regrowth from forest fires, appear gradually. Landsat impartially records these and many other changes to the land that are induced by people or nature.

Beyond the scientific information they confer, some Landsat images are simply striking to look at — presenting spectacular views of mountains, valleys, and islands; forests, grasslands, and agricultural patterns. By selecting certain features and coloring them from a digital palate, the USGS has created a series of “Earth as Art” perspectives that demonstrate an artistic resonance in land imagery and provide a special avenue of insight about the geography of each scene.

NASA is preparing to launch the next Landsat satellite in 2013, which will be turned over to USGS for operations and data distribution.

The Lena River, some 2,800 miles (4,500km) long, is one of the largest rivers in the world. The Lena Delta Reserve is the most extensive protected wilderness area in Russia. It is an important refuge and breeding grounds for many species of Siberian wildlife. Landsat 7 Image.

More Information

Earth as Art Image Gallery

Earth as Art at the Library of Congress (exhibit extended through August 31, 2012)

USGS Landsat

NASA Landsat

Contest URL:  http://eros.usgs.gov/eaa_voting/

This stretch of Iceland's northern coast resembles a tiger's head complete with stripes of orange, black, and white. The tiger's mouth is the great Eyjafjorour, a deep fjord that juts into the mainland between steep mountains. The name means "island fjord," derived from the tiny, tear-shaped Hrisey Island near its mouth. The ice-free port city of Akureyri lies near the fjord's narrow tip, and is Iceland's second largest population center after the capital, Reykjavik. Landsat 7 Image.

Enjoying Father's Day at Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Karen Laubenstein, USFWS.

More than 10,000 visitors to the country’s National Wildlife Refuge System say they are happy with their experiences on National Wildlife Refuges, according to just-published results from a survey by the U.S. Geological Survey. This is good news for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the diverse network of refuges.

Some 90 percent of visitors to National Wildlife Refuges who were surveyed indicate they are satisfied with each of four key refuge offerings: services provided by employees or volunteers, recreational opportunities, refuge information and education, and the refuge’s job of conserving fish, wildlife and their habitats.

The Refuge System attracts nearly 45 million visitors annually. Of this total, 25 million people per year observe and photograph wildlife, more than 9 million hunt and fish, and more than 10 million participate in educational and interpretation programs. The System, considered the leading network of protected lands and waters in the world dedicated to the conservation of fish, wildlife, and the associated habitat, comprises 556 national wildlife refuges and 38 wetland management districts throughout the United States and its territories, encompassing a total of more than 150 million acres.

One of the goals of the Refuge System is “to foster understanding and instill appreciation of fish, wildlife, and plants, and their conservation.” Refuges do this by providing the public with accessible places to view, hunt or otherwise enjoy wildlife and the outdoors. Understanding the perceptions of visitors and the quality and character of their experiences on refuges is a critical element of managing these lands and meeting the goals of the Refuge System.

Surveying visitors at William L. Finley National Wildlife Refuge near Corvallis, Ore. Photo by George Gentry, FWS

To this end, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked with social science experts at the USGS to conduct a scientific, independent national survey of refuge visitors to better understand visitor needs and experiences. The information will help the Service manage visitation to the refuges and design programs and facilities that respond to visitor needs while conserving wildlife.

The survey was conducted during 2010 and 2011 at 53 refuges across the country by refuge personnel, volunteers and Refuge “Friends” group members using a standardized survey instrument. The results provide a summary of visitor and trip characteristics, visitor opinions about refuges and their offerings, and visitor opinions about alternative transportation and climate change. In addition to overall satisfaction with refuge services and experiences noted above, the survey results revealed that:

• More than half of visitors had been to multiple national wildlife refuges in the past year.
• More than half of visitors were non-local, living more than 50 miles from the refuge they visited.
• Non-local visitors stayed in the local community for an average of 4 days, and the refuge was the primary destination of the trip for many of them.
• During visitors’ most recent trip to the refuge, the three primary activities were wildlife observation, birdwatching and fishing.

The survey also asked visitors their opinions about climate change. Most visitors indicated they are personally concerned about the effects of climate change on fish, wildlife and habitats. Just over half of visitors agreed they take actions to alleviate those effects and feel they stay well-informed about the issue. Most visitors agreed that future generations will benefit if climate change effects on fish, wildlife and habitats are addressed. They also agreed that it’s important to consider the economic costs and benefits to local communities when addressing these effects, and that addressing these effects can improve quality of life.

Related links:

Access the national combined results report here: National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Survey Results: 2010/2011

Access the Individual refuge results here (all 53 files available): National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Survey 2010/2011: Individual Refuge Results

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service News Releases

For More Information, Contact: Natalie Sexton