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Rocky Mountain Region

USGS Region 7 Staff support and advise USGS Science Centers that provide numerous stakeholders with vital information about spatial distribution and temporal trends in critical minerals, energy resources, geology, water resources, native plants and wildlife, and hazards posed by earthquakes and landslides in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and beyond.

News

New habitat suitability model to inform decision making and recover rare species in New Mexico

New habitat suitability model to inform decision making and recover rare species in New Mexico

2025 in Review: The Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment

2025 in Review: The Saline Lake Ecosystems Integrated Water Availability Assessment

Between a rock and a hard place: Experiences of the chronic wasting disease management community

Between a rock and a hard place: Experiences of the chronic wasting disease management community

Publications

Out with the old: Empirical trends in U.S. land-based wind turbine decommissioning and repowering Out with the old: Empirical trends in U.S. land-based wind turbine decommissioning and repowering

A growing number of wind turbines (WTs) across the globe are now reaching or exceeding their expected service lifetime; WT decommissioning is on the rise. Accordingly, questions pertaining to WT end-of-life have risen in importance in policy and practice. Yet, research on the various factors relating to WT decommissioning is relatively sparse. Moreover, the key assumptions underpinning...
Authors
Joseph Rand, Louisa Kramer, Ben Hoen, James Diffendorfer, Christopher Garrity

Geochronologic data reveal Late Pleistocene to Holocene debris-flow history and wildfire association within Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Klamath Mountains, northern California Geochronologic data reveal Late Pleistocene to Holocene debris-flow history and wildfire association within Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, Klamath Mountains, northern California

Understanding the local to regional history of extreme events such as debris flows and floods provides context to plan for and mitigate these hazards to life, property, and infrastructure. The Klamath Mountains of northwestern California have experienced both debris flows and devastating wildfires. Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (WHIS) is at the heart of this range and has a wealth...
Authors
John R. "Jack" Wood, Shannon A. Mahan, Amy E. East, Eric Leland Bilderback, Emma Taylor Krolczyk, Brian A. Rasmussen, Karina S. Zyatitsky, Leticia (Contractor) Hallas

Groundwater-level elevations in the bedrock aquifers of the Denver Basin aquifer system, Elbert County, Colorado, 2015–23 Groundwater-level elevations in the bedrock aquifers of the Denver Basin aquifer system, Elbert County, Colorado, 2015–23

Water users in Elbert County, Colorado, rely on groundwater from bedrock aquifers in the Denver Basin aquifer system (upper Dawson, lower Dawson, Denver, Arapahoe, and Laramie-Fox Hills aquifers) for approximately half of their water uses. Withdrawals from the bedrocks aquifers have increased to meet the water use needs of expanding regional population growth and development. The U.S...
Authors
Kelli M. Palko, Cory A. Russell, Nicholas J. Pieseski

Science

Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) research at NOROCK

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses the impacts of land-use and habitat changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. This long-term project involves partners from 12 Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations. NOROCK scientists, partners, and scientists from other USGS centers conduct integrated research to support...
Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) research at NOROCK

Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) research at NOROCK

The Wyoming Landscape Conservation Initiative (WLCI) addresses the impacts of land-use and habitat changes on Southwest Wyoming’s natural resources. This long-term project involves partners from 12 Federal, State, and local natural resource agencies, as well as non-governmental organizations. NOROCK scientists, partners, and scientists from other USGS centers conduct integrated research to support...
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Mapping Chronic Wasting Disease Management: Identify Opportunities for Intervention

This research effort is an interagency partnership between U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to model the social-ecological system that encompasses chronic wasting disease management in the United States. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, neurologically degenerative disease that impacts many cervid species in North America (e.g., elk, moose, mule deer, and white...
Mapping Chronic Wasting Disease Management: Identify Opportunities for Intervention

Mapping Chronic Wasting Disease Management: Identify Opportunities for Intervention

This research effort is an interagency partnership between U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to model the social-ecological system that encompasses chronic wasting disease management in the United States. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal, neurologically degenerative disease that impacts many cervid species in North America (e.g., elk, moose, mule deer, and white...
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The Wildfire Research (WiRē) Team

Wildfires cost billions of dollars to suppress annually, yet they still devastate lives, communities, and ecosystems. While wildfire is a natural phenomenon, learning to live with wildfire is a social issue – so we need a social solution.
The Wildfire Research (WiRē) Team

The Wildfire Research (WiRē) Team

Wildfires cost billions of dollars to suppress annually, yet they still devastate lives, communities, and ecosystems. While wildfire is a natural phenomenon, learning to live with wildfire is a social issue – so we need a social solution.
Learn More
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