2000-2005 Program Plan

Program Priorities 2000-2005

The National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP) has three primary components: FEDMAP which funds federal mapping projects, STATEMAP, a matching-funds grants program with State geological surveys, and EDMAP, a geologic mapping education matching-funds program with universities.

A new program direction began in 1999, with new FEDMAP geologic mapping projects being organized into regional partnership projects, with long-term plans and strategies to address distinct Earth science issues throughout geologically similar regions of the nation.

Program Summary, Goals, Objectives, Reason for Being

The National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 established the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program to implement and coordinate an expanded geologic mapping effort by the USGS, the State geological surveys, and universities. The primary goal of the program is to collect, process, analyze, translate, and disseminate earth-science information through geologic maps. This information contributes to maintaining and improving the quality of life and economic vitality of the Nation and to mitigating the effects of hazardous events and conditions. Technological advances in computing and spatial-data analysis in the last decade are embraced by the program to provide geologic map data in digital formats that can be used by the public at all levels to assist in analysis and decision-making. Priorities for the program are cooperatively developed through review councils and forums representing the broadest range of stakeholders. In this way, the efforts of the Federal agencies, State geological surveys, and the academic and private institutions that prepare geologic maps are directed to address issues of greatest relevance to society.

A more extensive history of the program is available in the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992 (P.L. 102-285, the Reauthorization Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-36), and the Reauthorization Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-148), and the 1996 and 1998 reports of the Federal Advisory Committee for the program. Copies of these documents are being made available at the NCGMP website http://ncgmp.usgs.gov/.

Relation to the USGS Bureau Strategic Plan and the Geologic Division Science Strategy

Strategic plans for the USGS lay out broad Earth science goals to address issues related to natural hazards, the environment, resources, and information.

"The Geologic Division's ability to respond to each of these societal goals requires a sustained investment in documenting the present and past state of the Earth and in using this information to predict future changes. For example, geologic mapping, which has long been a strength of the Geologic Division, is essential to achieving all seven science goals." (Geology for a Changing World, USGS Circular 1172, Executive Summary, p. 4).

The NCGMP will cooperate and will co-fund projects with other programs within the US Geological Survey and with partners in the States and universities to contribute to each of the Division's science goals. In doing so, the program seeks to leverage its resources with others to best meet the Nation's needs for Earth Science information. The program will emphasize the scientific and societal reasons that mapping is undertaken, and will produce high-quality geologic maps as mandated by the National Geologic Mapping Act.

These program plans are well aligned with USGS Customer and Program Strategic Goals to "increase involvement of multiple partners and cooperators/coalitions in contributing to mutually beneficial program outcomes and impacts", to address hazards, environment, and natural resource issues and to build on information infrastructures to "ensure efficient data integration and access to satisfy both internal and external customers."

Criteria for selecting Geologic Mapping projects for funding are:

1. strong scientific foundation and merit,
2. application of geologic mapping to societal needs, and relevance to Federal and State science goals,
3. appropriate government role, site and scope, including consideration of scale of work, and opportunities for leveraging resources with partners.

Over the next decade, the mapping program will build and strengthen issue- and client-based partnerships for geologic mapping in the framework of the USGS Science Strategy. In this manner, the program will focus its mapping efforts on aspects of geologic science goals that best meet client needs.

These include:

1. Conduct geologic hazard assessments for mitigation planning.

Action: Participate in cooperative projects with other Federal and State programs to generate digital geologic map information to aid in better, timely and cost-efficient hazard assessments and predictions by decision-makers.

Examples of recent work and opportunities for collaboration:

Joint work with the USGS Landslides Program assessed the impacts of landslides and debris flows resulting from recent El Ninõ storms. NCGMP will work with other USGS programs, the Association of American State Geologists, Academia and private sector groups over the next several years as part of a nation-wide initiative to mitigate the effects of landslides. The NCGMP is increasing its emphasis on surficial mapping and compiling bedrock data for hazardous areas. The program contributes to innovative mapping projects which demonstrate the applicability of geologic mapping science to the solution of societal problems and works with State agencies and universities to develop methods to incorporate earth science information in benefit-cost analysis.

In partnership with the Earthquakes program, NCGMP will emphasize geologic mapping projects that address seismic hazards in California, the Pacific Northwest, and the Central United States. The program also seeks to partner with States and other programs to increase resources to undertake geologic mapping studies of hazards in Alaska, and to cooperate with the Volcano hazards program on geologic mapping as a baseline for evaluating volcanic hazards.

2. Provide short-term prediction of geologic disasters and rapidly characterize their effects.

Action: Participate in rapid response teams, develop or collaborate in the development of warning and risk maps and scenarios.

Examples of current work and opportunities for collaboration:

The NCGMP has a history of participating in rapid responses to disasters, in interpreting effects of disasters and in the mitigation of future events. Geologic maps and related GIS data provide geologic framework information when destructive earthquakes, landslides, floods, and volcanic eruptions occur. To be most effective, geologic mapping of high-risk areas should precede disasters, in order to be available as a baseline for scenario building during periods of crisis. Examples of mapping the deposits from previous hazardous events and mapping materials that are subject to ground-failure, as the basis for hazard-warning maps are well known in the volcano and landslides communities. Recent examples include the mapping of landslide and debris flows before and during the 1998 El Ninõ storm season, and compilation of the geology of Honduras in 1999 to evaluate the effect of geologic substrate on landsliding in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch.

Although not an ongoing project area for NCGMP, the FEDMAP program component is prepared to divert resources to undertake rapid geologic mapping and map-compilation in response to geologic disasters and crises of National importance.

3. Anticipate the environmental hazards posed by climate variability

Action: The program will undertake geologic mapping and related work in ecosystem history that highlight ecosystem variability and change over the last millennia.

Examples of current work and opportunities for collaboration:

These techniques support studies of ecosystem change on a regional basis and can be used to predict future trends for land managers. As part of this work, proxies are developed that can be used to monitor impending changes in ecosystem health. The program supports geologic mapping and surficial geology in the Mojave Desert ecosystem. Geologic mapping studies in the Southwest are used as the framework for long-term models and predictions of ground-water resources. These time-transient models for Southwest basins, coupled with water ages, document long-term climate and precipitation changes.

A principal focus of FEDMAP in future ecosystem studies will be on human impacts on land and water resources. Although, not identified as a separate Science Goal by the Geologic Division of USGS, the program and its partners believe that the land itself is a resource. Mapping human infrastructure and how it relates to construction resources, to water, mineral, and energy resources, as well as mapping the susceptibility of the land to contamination and other changes are important roles for the program. The interplay of human infrastructure with natural resources and hazards provides a role for geologic mapping in analyzing economic and human-health risk.

One of the strongest areas for future cooperative work concerns the sensitivity of various environments to change. The program will develop new collaborative projects with other Federal and State programs to evaluate the impacts of changes in climate and human uses of land resources. Linked studies of climate variability, coastal inundation or expansion, aquifer recharge, evapo-transpiration through various plant communities, hydrologic modeling and hydrogeologic framework will improve our understanding of the sensitivity of various environments to changes in climate, human population trends, and to changes in land and water use. A key contribution of NCGMP is through geologic history as interpreted from geologic mapping and stratigraphic analysis. Just as the "present is the key to the past," the geologic history of a region is the "key to the future."

4. Advance the understanding of the Nation's mineral and energy resources in a global geologic, economic, and environmental context

Action: Construct digital geologic base data and the interpretive spatial and temporal frameworks (multi-purpose geologic maps) in support of the Nation's minerals infrastructure, and energy needs. FEDMAP will expand collaborative mapping studies that address the origin of minerals, construction materials and energy deposits.

The program will participate in jointly funded projects that use geologic maps to evaluate energy, mineral and infrastructure resources. NCGMP will also work with other Geologic Division Programs and with State governments to develop cooperative projects and Federal-State coalitions that use geologic maps and related databases for evaluation of energy and mineral resources.

Examples of current work and opportunities for collaboration:

The program is presently devoting about one-quarter of STATEMAP funds to support geologic mapping directly related to mineral and aggregate resource evaluation. For example, the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys has used STATEMAP matching funds to help identify those lands that have the highest mineral potential and to initiate airborne geophysical surveys of high mineral potential tracts on state lands. There are numerous other examples of STATEMAP-funded geologic mapping that is used in mineral and energy exploration. The program will encourage geologic mapping projects that link USGS programs with state and local agencies to evaluate mineral and energy resources, to establish base levels for ecosystems surrounding deposits, and to track change through development and reclamation. NCGMP is also partnering with several other USGS programs to fund a pilot project that is designed to evaluate geologic mapping needs and to build a new mapping effort in Alaska, where objective science is needed for mineral, energy, and land resource decisions.

5. Establish the geological framework for ecosystem structures and function

Action: Expand work in ecosystem history through geologic mapping as a framework in which to document pre-civilization base level, variability and civilization-induced changes.

Examples of current work and opportunities for collaboration:

Through FEDMAP, the NCGMP is funding geologic mapping and geologic map-based methods to monitor and establish baselines for ecosystems. NCGMP-funded projects have constructed surface and sub-surface geologic maps and hydro-stratigraphic frameworks, refined relative and numerical ages, and developed detailed ecological analysis techniques for the multi-agency restoration effort in the South Florida ecosystem. The Program also participates in the multi-agency Chesapeake Bay ecosystem study and conducts mapping and interpretation of surface processes in the Southwest (e.g., Mojave Desert ecosystem, Middle Rio Grande, Death Valley). These studies enable evaluation of the quantity and quality of natural resources and the vulnerability of these resources, including water, plants, and animals (including man) to changes in climate and land use. The program anticipates increased cooperation with other federal, state, and local agencies and growth in this area as the cost of remediation of land and water resources increases, and as new emphasis is placed on sustainable development and quality of life.

6. Interpret the links between human health and geologic processes

Action: Construct digital maps and GIS to explore and evaluate geospatial linkages between geology, hydrology, and biology and human health.

Examples of current work and opportunities for collaboration:

The program will continue and expand efforts to develop derivative geologic maps that assess contamination potential of aquifers and links to human health. Regional maps and statistical interpretations have been published, which indicate the susceptibility of shallow aquifers in the Great Lakes region to contamination. However, these are based on broad reconnaissance mapping, much from early in the century, and the results should not be applied at the local scale. A new generation of more detailed mapping, and construction of three-dimensional geospatial databases and process-models is needed. The program will seek partnerships to develop derivative geologic maps that show the distribution of natural sources of toxic substances, both for the purpose of establishing natural baselines and to evaluate natural hazards.

The STATEMAP component of the program is providing matching funds to a half dozen State geological surveys to produce new geologic maps in areas undergoing major agricultural development, for example, in Oklahoma, many new hog farms in the Panhandle region are underlain by the major High Plains (Ogallala) aquifer. Sustained development of the Ogallala aquifer and a recently funded Water Resources Division and Oklahoma Water Resources Board study will benefit from digital geologic maps that are funded by the program.

Geologic maps and Geographic Information Systems will explore the linkage between human health, and the geographic distribution of geologic materials. Studies by the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, and the USEPA indicate that the consumption of contaminated ground water is responsible for 45% of all water-borne disease in the United States. Geologic maps that show the distribution of permeable areas and shallow source-aquifers for drinking water also serve as contamination potential maps for chemical and radiological, as well as micro-biological contamination. Development of hydrologic framework and health science issues will require collaboration among field geologists, hydrologists, microbiologists, epidemiologists and other public health officials in a variety of Federal and State agencies, and with consultants from the private sector.

7. Determine the geologic framework for ground-water resource assessments and hazardous waste isolation

Action: Expand collaborative studies to provide stratigraphic and structural framework and rock properties for ground water resource assessments.

Current work and opportunities:

This goal, and the hazards goal (#1) represent the two areas in which NCGMP has the greatest current investment. Through FEDMAP, the NCGMP currently funds or has recently completed hydrogeology studies in South Florida, the Southeast Coastal Plain, the mid-continent, and the Southwest U.S. In addition, through STATEMAP and EDMAP, the Program addresses these issues in most of the States. The program is developing new ground-water related projects and partnerships in the Northeast and upper Mid-West and is seeking to expand and better link hydrogeologic mapping projects in the Southwest. These mapping projects have provided the geologic framework for studies of ground-water contamination and hazardous waste isolation at the Nevada Test Site and the Savannah River Site, for concerns about water quality and lead mining in the Ozark Mountains, and for ground-water supply modeling in the Middle-Rio Grande Basin of New Mexico, and in Southern California.

Overall, more that one-quarter of the program budget is devoted to geologic mapping in support of ground-water resource and quality issues. New NCGMP projects are just beginning in the Mid-West and in the Piedmont and Northeastern regions of the Nation, and in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The Central Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition has brought together the Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio State Geological Surveys with the USGS to develop a long-term strategy for mapping the glacial deposits that contain much of the groundwater for this highly populated and industrialized part of the Nation. By targeting critical areas in this region, and pooling resources for mapping and for new regional geophysical surveys and drilling, this coalition will be able to produce three-dimensional geologic map databases that characterize major aquifers and sand and gravel deposits. Such maps will be useful for the Federal, state, and local agencies in the region that are charged with making decisions about conflicting land uses. The Bedrock Regional Aquifer Systematics Study (BRASS) is bringing together geologists and hydrologists in the USGS and State geological surveys to improve models of the flow and chemical evolution of ground water in regions underlain by fractured bedrock. This study, which began with a pilot project in New England, will serve a twofold purpose: addressing immediate societal needs and problems related to ground water, and answering scientific questions pertaining to the behavior of ground water in fractured bedrock overlain by a regolith of subaqueous, residual, or glaciogenic origin. A new cooperative FEDMAP project is underway in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. It focuses on the hydrogeology of the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure, where geologic mapping and subsurface stratigraphy is required to understand the geologic controls on salt-water intrusion in to coastal aquifers.

Operational Objectives

1. Greatly enhance the public's ability to locate, access, and use Geologic Division maps and data

Action: The NCGMP will continue to support and expand the National Digital Geologic Map Database in cooperation with partners.

Current work and opportunities for collaboration:

The database is an integral part of the program and a key federal role for USGS under the Mapping Act. The program supports the Geologic Division Strategy recommendation that the database be implemented at Division level and be expanded to include all relevant USGS data as well as through the growing links and partnerships with States and universities. Map standards and geologic map data model are being developed cooperatively by NCGMP, other Geologic Division Programs, and the Association of American State Geologists and with the Canadian Federal and Provincial surveys. These standards and models will allow the exchange geologic map data and facilitate the use of geologic information in Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

A significant program priority for the next five years will be on developing geologic maps as integrated three-dimensional GIS and modeling systems. The program will work cooperatively with others to develop innovative methods to implement digital maps as decision support tools.

2. Maintain a first-rate earth-science library

Through the National Geologic Map Database project, the program is working with the Association of American State Geologists and the USGS library to build a searchable index of all geologic maps produced by the USGS and State geological surveys.

3. Effectively transfer the knowledge acquired through Geologic Division science activities

Action: NCGMP will continue and expand efforts to communicate the value of geologic information to the public and will expand delivery of map information over the Internet. The program will encourage its projects involve the clients and customers for maps in the design of projects, and to work with these groups to ensure that the map information is provided in a useable form.

Current work and opportunities for collaboration:

Through FEDMAP, the program now funds more than a dozen geologic mapping tasks in the National Parks, many of which are producing derivative map and outreach products for distribution to the millions of visitors to National Park Service lands. The program provides a list of new Federal maps of interest to geologists for publication in the journal Geotimes, published by the American Geologic Institute every other month. The program is contributing national maps and information to the National Atlas of the United States and will support and encourage additional contributions that illustrate the value and uses of geologic maps. In partnership with other USGS programs, the program is also supporting a pilot project on Internet delivery of maps and decision-support data.

The program seeks opportunities to brief the public, Congressional delegations, and other Federal agencies whenever possible. The separate legislation provided by the Mapping Act provides an opportunity to describe the value of geologic mapping to a wide variety of client groups. In addition, the cooperative STATEMAP and EDMAP programs provide a direct link to issues of state and local concern. On an annual basis, the Association of American State Geologists advises more that 30 congressional delegations and a variety of Federal agencies of the value of the NCGMP and it's legislative mandate, the National Geologic Mapping Act.

The program has expanded interactions with the American Geological Institute (AGI) the National Science Foundation, and Universities. For example, in February 1998, program managers worked with AGI to host an informal workshop on Geoscience and Public Policy. During the fall of 1998, program managers worked with the AASG and NSF to provide funding for a new training program for undergraduate assistants on geologic mapping projects. The Geologic Mapping Program will continue to explore ways to better communicate the value of geological science, and opportunities for additional cooperative venues to improve communication with clients and constituents.

4. Strive for a balanced workforce to ensure programmatic and fiscal flexibility.

Action: In order to best accomplish its mission responsibility for multi-purpose geologic mapping and scientific vitality, the program will work with other USGS programs and with USGS line-management to maintain a diverse and multi-disciplinary workforce.

Current work and opportunities for collaboration:

The program is cooperating with State geological surveys and the USGS Water Resources Division in an innovative training program in surficial geology ("Surfschool"), and in joint work to improve understanding of the hydrogeology of bedrock aquifers ("BRASS"), and digital mapping techniques. NCGMP will continue funding these and related efforts to fill the need for increased capabilities in Geographic Information System science.

The program will explore new partnerships with universities and State surveys for training. Presently the EDMAP component of the program is supporting more than 60 graduate students a year to learn geologic mapping techniques in societally relevant studies done cooperatively with geologists in State geological surveys or the USGS. In FY 99 this support was expanded to support undergraduate seniors.

5. Promote interdisciplinary research

Action: The annual FEDMAP program prospectus will specifically encourage interdisciplinary projects and projects that combine expertise from a variety of teams and from other programs, and State surveys to build integrated science projects.

Current work and collaborative opportunities:

Interdisciplinary research is a requirement of multi-purpose geologic mapping. NCGMP is well positioned to extend and build cooperative, multi-disciplinary mapping projects in cooperation with specialists from across the bureau.

Currently, much of the NCGMP FEDMAP focus and USGS bureau attention has been on collaboration in water-resource related investigations, including developing of budget initiatives for joint funding of water resources and mapping projects. The program will also work with the USGS National Mapping Division in the geographic sciences that apply geologic maps and GIS to the solution of natural science problems.

6. Institute internal and external reviews

Action: The NCGMP will continue to seek advice and review from its external and internal partners and clients.

Current work and opportunities:

Principal overall guidance on broad program direction and implementation of the National Geologic Mapping Act is provided by the program's ten-member Federal Advisory Committee, which is composed of representatives from the EPA, the Department of Energy and Agriculture, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the USGS, State geological surveys, academia, and the private-sector. In addition to the annual review provided by the Federal Advisory Committee, the NCGMP has sponsored a series of Geologic Mapping Forums and workshops during the past 4 years. The National Geologic Map Database project sponsors annual workshops and forums with partners from within and beyond USGS. New FEDMAP projects are being developed in partnership with state partners, and derive their goals from needs assessment workshops in the regions of interest (e.g., Middle Rio Grande, Bedrock Regional Aquifer Systematics Study, Great Lakes Coalition, Death Valley).

As part of the annual Science Planning Process for FEDMAP, an advisory committee, made up of program managers, scientists, and external partners reviews annual project proposals and work-plans, and the program conducts on-site, typically field-based constructive project reviews. The FY2000 FEDMAP Advisory Committee was composed of geologic mapping experts from USGS and included representatives from the American Association of State Geologists, the National Park Service, and from the USGS Water Resources Division. This committee reviewed FY-2000 FEDMAP project proposals and made recommendations on improving ongoing projects and on the merits of new project proposals.

The external grants proposals for STATEMAP and EDMAP are reviewed by national awards panels made up of scientists from USGS, State Surveys, and Universities. In addition, a pre-screening by a multi-sector State Mapping Advisory panel is done to select only the highest priority STATEMAP proposal from each state to forward to the USGS-hosted national awards panel.

The program also contributed to the USGS Geologic Division's Unified Science Prospectus for FY-2000 and to the development of an Internet-based system for Science and budget proposals.

Program Priorities 2000-2005

Specific priorities for 2000-2005 are described above using the seven geologic goal headings recommended by the USGS Geologic Division Science Strategy. Overall, NCGMP anticipates growth in fiscal resources and in the extent and effectiveness of partnerships with State geological surveys. The program seeks to stimulate and catalyze a revitalization of "geological surveying" as an identity for the US Geological Survey and seeks to catalyze a renaissance in the science of geologic mapping. The program will:

• Emphasize that geologic maps are the principal products of all it's projects
• Emphasize the application of geologic mapping to the solution of scientific and societal problems
• Expand hydrogeologic and subsurface mapping, and the geology of surface and near-surface materials
• Emphasize digital mapping and Internet delivery of map information, and the development of Geographic Information Systems and three-dimensional representations of geologic information,
• Increase emphasis on the physical, chemical, and biological properties of geologic map units and how they affect man and the environment,
• Increase emphasis on the interpretation of geologic, hydrologic, and biologic processes that give rise to map units and on geologic mapping as a framework for integrated science studies,
• Expand partnerships and build coalitions for geologic mapping, and emphasize the role of geologic mapping as an integrator of the Earth Sciences.

Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1996

The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) requires all Federal agencies to define long-range goals, establish annual performance targets, and report on achievements of those targets. The goal for the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program is linked to the Bureau strategic Plan in terms of critical business activities. This goal emphasizes the impact of Program accomplishments on issues critical to the Nation and, the annual measures are structured to include reporting accomplishments by each part of the program (FEDMAP, STATEMAP, and EDMAP).

Measuring the Impact of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program-- GPRA Goal, Business Activity 5: Land and Water Use:

By the year 2002, the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program will complete 1/24,000-scale geologic maps and 1/100,000-scale geologic maps that address ground-water issues in five or more basins, geologic hazards in three or more regions of the nation, land and water use in four major urban areas, and environmental baselines in two or more regional ecosystems. The program will also coordinate cooperative geologic mapping projects that address these and other issues with other Federal agencies (e.g., NPS), and with partners in State surveys (STATEMAP) and universities (EDMAP) in 25-50 states per year. The program will work with stakeholders and customers on an annual basis to establish priorities and to compile broader-scale geologic maps and national databases.

Expertise and facilities needed

Over the next decade, the program will direct increased resources to improving the usefulness of geologic maps, both through technical advances in digital display and interpretation, and through the inclusion of "value-added" information that is relevant to public use, such as engineering and hydrologic properties of map units. NCGMP will advance the use and technical development of Geographic Information Systems and three-dimensional visualization as tools for geologic mapping and for use of geologic information in modeling geologic, hydrologic, and biologic processes. The program will need to increase capabilities in surficial geology and subsurface geologic interpretation, geographic information system science, sequence stratigraphy, process-oriented geologic mapping and field geology, and in the leadership of interdisciplinary science activities.

The Program is concerned that insufficient USGS Geologic Division resources are devoted to the digital publication and long-term archival of geologic maps. NCGMP will work with the USGS and external partners to ensure that a premier product of the US Geological Survey, geologic maps, are made available in modern digital formats, and are archived for future generations.

Resources- 5-Year Funding Profile

The Geologic Division's programs have constructed individual 5-year funding projections each year since at least 1995. Each year since 1995, most of the programs have assumed either flat-funding, or have used decreases proposed in the President's budget as the basis for their projections. The projections have also assumed a decrease in spending power of 5% to 10% per year, due to increased fixed costs, such as salary and rent creep. The table below shows the history of funding for the NCGMP since it's origin in fiscal year 1993.

* Proposed funding level in FY2000 Budget proposal to Congress.
** Equivalent FY99 gross dollars, actual proposal includes a change in assessment rates that reduces gross funding.

Authorization levels proposed for FY 2001-2005 are: $37M, $43M, $50M, $57M, $64M.

For the first time the Department of Interior Budget called for a significant increase for NCGMP in fiscal year 2000, in contrast to proposed decreases of approximately 8% ($1.7M) in the DOI budgets for FY-1998 and FY-1999. The fiscal year 2000 budget proposed an increase of +$1.5M through the Community/Federal Information Partnership Initiative for geologic map database related activities and +$0.5M as an inflationary offset. The program plans to allocate 50% of any new funds to FEDMAP, 48% to STATEMAP, and 2% to EDMAP, consistent with plans for allocation of new funds above base amounts in fiscal years 2001-2005 as proposed in the National Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Bill of 1999. Although not part of the program base, the 2000 budget also proposes an increase of +$0.5M for the Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition and an increase for geologic mapping as part of the +$0.5M budgeted for interpretation and geologic mapping in National Parks through the Integrated Science and DOI-Support Initiatives. It is important to note that these are proposed amounts, Congress has not yet appropriated funds for FY-2000 at the time of this writing.

Plans for inter-program cooperative efforts

The National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program depends on cooperation with other USGS programs and external partners for its success. In addition to the partnerships through STATEMAP and EDMAP, the program's most successful ongoing and recently completed FEDMAP projects are leveraged with other programs and partners. Examples include: Puget Sound (Bureau Urban Hazards initiative), Southern California (SCAMP, with Earthquakes program, State survey, and Water Districts, and Mojave Ecosystem study), San Francisco (Bay Area Governments), Death Valley (NPS, DOE, Counties), Middle Rio Grande Basin (WRD, State, City, County, Pueblo nations), South Florida (Bureau and multi-agency Ecosystem project), Southeast Coastal Plain (WRD, South Carolina DNR), Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition (State Surveys of IL, IN, OH, MI, Coastal and Marine Geology Program, Earth Surface Dynamics Program, Biological Resources Division's Great Lakes Science Center, Ground-water Resources Program), National Park Service "Science in the Parks" projects.

NCGMP anticipates growth in geologic mapping coalitions. Prospective topics and areas include geologic mapping to address ground-water resources and quality, landslides (nation-wide), energy, mineral and hazards issues in Alaska, and in developing high-priority projects with the National Park Service.

Opportunities for reimbursable project development

The partnership approach to geologic mapping can be an effective way to leverage Federal resources with reimbursable funding. A good example is the new (FY-99) Death Valley Project, which grew out of an NPS-sponsored workshop in early 1998. The project leverages resources of USGS, DOE, NPS.

Geologic mapping is in demand internationally. During the past three years, the mapping teams and the NCGM program office have worked with the USGS International Geology group to prepare bids for mapping projects in Morocco, the United Arab Emirates & Oman, Algeria, and other countries. The first of these projects began in Morocco in late 1999.