New Proposed Program Funding in FY 2003

The President's FY 2003 budget focuses resources on core U.S. Geological Survey programs, such as mapping and hazards, and those that directly support science-based land and natural resource management by the Department of the Interior. The USGS will continue to provide timely, objective, scientific information to other Federal and State agencies, local partners, and stakeholders to address resource, natural hazard, and natural science issues.

Energy Resource Assessments

Our Nation faces the simultaneous challenges of increasing demand for energy, declining domestic production from existing oil and gas fields, and increasing expectations for environmental protection. The USGS provides the objective scientific information our society needs for sound decisions regarding land management, environmental quality, and economic, energy, and strategic policy.

In FY 2003, the USGS budget proposes funding of $1.2 million to conduct assessments of undiscovered oil and natural gas resources on Federal lands. In support of the National Energy Policy, this assessment will provide valuable information about energy resources for potential future development.

An additional $500,000 is also proposed to update the national assessment of geothermal resources last updated in 1979. The USGS will investigate the nature and extent of geothermal systems in areas of the country that have increasing energy requirements, beginning in the Great Basin region, a growing area of the country with increasing energy requirements.

Restoration of the Everglades

USGS science is extremely beneficial to Department of the Interior land managers, particularly in the restoration of the Everglades ecosystem in 2003 and beyond. The USGS is proposing funding of $4.0 million to coordinate the Critical Ecosystem Studies Initiative (CESI) with the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other Federal and State agencies. The long-term monitoring, assessment, and ongoing science support provided through the CESI are essential elements of the adaptive management concept for restoring the Everglades, a unique and internationally recognized treasure.

Digital Base Mapping

The FY 2003 budget includes $1.0 million to produce digital base maps of Alaska focusing first on areas of potential energy development within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. This will provide resource managers with information needed to make timely and environmentally sound resource decisions.

Environment and Human Health

As the Nation's principal natural resource science agency, the USGS has a significant role in understanding environmental contributions to diseases and human health. In FY 2003, $1 million is proposed to apply core mission expertise to better understand complex environmental health issues along the U.S.-Mexico border. In collaboration with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, this study will focus on the distribution and movement of disease-causing agents like radiation, pesticides, and pathogens in water, air, and soil.

Geographic Information Systems

Geographic information systems (GIS) technology can be used for scientific investigations, resource management, and land use planning. For example, a GIS might allow emergency planners to easily calculate emergency response times in the event of a natural disaster, or be used to find wetlands that need protection from pollution. In FY 2003, the USGS is proposing $1 million in funding to develop enterprise GIS tools, bringing together geospatially referenced hydrologic, biologic, geologic, and topographic data into a common decision support system.