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The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is the principal Federal earth-science agency dedicated to collecting, analyzing, interpreting, publishing, and disseminating information about the Nation's energy, land, mineral, and water resources. The USGS is unique among Government organizations because it has neither regulatory nor developmental authority---its sole product is information. The primary role is that of a scientific organization concerned with providing credible, relevant, impartial, and timely information to all interested parties.

The USGS was established by an act of Congress on March 3, 1879, to provide a permanent Federal agency to conduct systematic and scientific classification of the public lands and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of national domain. Since 1879, the research and fact-finding role of the USGS has both grown and evolved to meet the changing needs of the Nation.