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USGS2005

Economic importance of elk hunting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Park Service (NPS) are preparing a management plan for bison and elk inhabiting the National Elk Refuge (NER) and Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). These animals are part of the bison and elk herds in Jackson Hole, one of the largest concentrations of free-ranging bison and elk in the world. A range of alternatives for managing the bison and elk herds in the project area will be developed in an Environmental Impact Statement. The EIS will include an analysis of elk hunting programs related to the NER and GTNP. Management of the Jackson elk herd on the NER and GTNP can impact the number of hunters allowed and hunter harvest ratios on the NER, GTNP, and Bridger Teton National Forest (BTNF). To assist the EIS planning effort, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) conducted a survey of elk hunters that hunted within the Jackson elk herd units during the 2001 hunting season. The objective of this survey and analysis was to quantify how much hunters spent in the local and regional economy and the associated economic impacts such as income and employment effects. Spending by elk hunters in the Jackson area generates considerable economic benefits for the local and regional economy. An elk hunter usually buys a wide range of goods and services during a hunting trip. Major expenditure categories include outfitter/guide fees, hunting licenses and supplies, game processing, lodging, food, and gasoline. As more hunters come to an area, local businesses will purchase extra labor and supplies to meet the increase in demand for additional services. The income and employment resulting from purchases by hunter at local businesses represent the direct effects of hunter spending within the economy. In order to increase supplies to local businesses, input suppliers must also increase their purchases of inputs from other industries. The income and employment resulting from these secondary purchases by input suppliers are the indirect effects of hunter spending within the local economy. The input supplier’s new employees use their incomes to purchase goods and services. The resulting increased economic activity from new employee income is the induced effect associated with hunter spending. The indirect and induced effects are known as the secondary effects. Multipliers capture the size of the secondary effects, usually as a ratio of total effects to direct effects (Stynes, 1998). The sums of the direct and secondary effects describe the total economic impact of hunter spending in the local economy.

Wyoming↗

USGS1997

Strategic plan for the National Mapping Divison of the U.S. Geological Survey

The National Mapping Division (NMD) has developed this comprehensive strategic plan to chart its course over the next decade. To meet the challenge of the future, the NMD is changing its program emphasis, methods of responding to customer need and business practices. The NMD Strategic Plan identifies the new direction for the Division through a series of goals and actions for managers to use in formulating plans, establishing program emphasis, and determining resource needs and allocations into the next century. The Plan refines the NMD mission on the basis of several key issues that are expected to face the Division in the next decade. Th first of these is the continuing advances in technology and telecommunications. Related to this is the growth in the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and the demand for data to use in GIS's. Also, a trend exists toward decreasing cost of both the data and the systems, leading to even more demand for and use of data and technology by more users. Another is a changing customer base and increasing demand for NMD products and services. Finally, the financial resource available to the NMD are anticipated to remain relatively static. The Plan assumes that a much greater reliance on partnerships with other government agencies and the private sector for production activities will be permanent. It calls for significantly greater emphasis on the inherently governmental information management responsibilities and on geographic research to support the Division's mission. Multipartner consortia and shared funding agreements will constitute the basis for meeting most mapping needs in the future, with the NMD appropriation focused on map revision in areas of importance to the Federal Government. Mapping Centers will be encouraged to increase partnership agreements to meet mission requirements. The Division will continue to constrain employment, targeting new hiring to specific skills needed to support the revised mission in areas such as quality assurance, data standards development and maintenance, contract management, and information management. Retraining opportunities for current employees will be a high priority. The Bureau Strategic Plan was reviewed carefully to assure that the NMD Strategic Plan would be consistent with it. The Division planning team built on the conclusion of the Bureau Plan regarding the political, economic, societal, and global force that will affect our program in the future. The NMD Strategic Plan also embraces all of the core competencies and business activities.

Report↗

USGS2000

Cruise report RV Ocean Surveyor cruise O-1-00-GM the bathymetry and acoustic backscatter of the Pinnacles area, northern Gulf of Mexico May 23, through June 10, 2000 Venice, LA to Venice, LA

An extensive deep (~100 m) reef tract occurs on the Mississippi-Alabama outer continental shelf (OCS). The tract, known as "The Pinnacles", is apparently part of a sequence of drowned reef complexes along the "40-fathom" shelf edge of the northern Gulf of Mexico (Ludwick and Walton, 1957). It is critical to determine the accurate geomorphology of deep-reefs because of their importance as benthic habitats for fisheries. The Pinnacles were mapped by Ludwick and Walton (1957) using a single-beam echo sounder but the spatial extent and morphology were interpreted from a series of widely separated, poorly navigated bathymetric profiles. Other recent studies, supported by Minerals Management Service (MMS), used towed sidescan sonars and single-channel seismic-reflection profiling. None of the existing studies provide the quality of geomorphic data necessary for reasonable habitat studies. The fish faunas of shallow hermatypic reefs have been well studied, but those of deep ahermatypic reefs have relatively ignored. The ecology of deep ahermatypic reefs is fundamentally different from hermatipic reefs because autochthonous intracellular symbiotic zooxanthellae (the carbon source for hermatypic corals) do not form the base of the trophic web. Instead, exogenous plankton, transported to the reef by currents, serves as the primary carbon source. Deep OCS reefs also lie below the practical working depths for SCUBA; consequently, remote investigations from a ship or in situ investigations using submersibles or ROVs are required. Community structure and trophodynamics of demersal fishes of the Pinnacles are presently the focus of USGS reseach. A goal of the research is to answer questions concerning the relataive roles played by geomorphology and surficial geology in the interaction with and control of biological differentiation. OCS reefs are important because we now know that such areas are important coral reef fish havens, key spawning 2 sites, and a critical early larval and juvenile habitats for economically important sport/food fishes. Also, deep-reef ecosystems as well as the fish populations they sustain are impacted by intensive oil-field development. It is now known that deep OCS reefs function as a key source of re-population (via seasonal and ontogenetic migration) of already heavily impacted inshore reefs. A reflection of this realization is the recent closure by the Gulf States Fisheries Management Council of a 600 mi 2 area of the Florida Middle Grounds (another unmapped major "40-fathom" OCS reef complex) to commercial fishing to preserve grouper spawning aggregations. It is known that the Pinnacles reefs support a lush fauna of ahermatypic hard corals, soft corals, black corals, sessile crinoids and sponges—together forming a living habitat for a well-developed fish fauna. The fish fauna comprises typical Caribbean reef fishes and Carolinian shelf fishes, plus epipelagic fishes, and a few deep-sea fishes. The base of the megafaunal invertebrate food web is plankton, borne by essentially continuous semi-laminar currents flowing predominantly out of the SW, up, along and across the shelf edge. These currents are intercepted by pinnacles reefs, which lie roughly in two linear tracts, parallel to the coastline (see fig. 1 in report). USGS research initiated in 1997 (Sulak et al., in progress) has demonstrated that the Pinnacles reef fish fauna is dominated by planktivorous fishes. Ongoing food habits, trophic web and stable isotope analyses by the USGS are reinforcing a basic picture of deep OCS reefs as ecosystems based on exogenous current-borne plankton. Long-term current meter deployments have demonstrated that the >3 m, <16m relief of the Pinnacles reefs disrupts the prevailing currents, inducing local complexity (F. Kelly, Texas A&M Univ., pers. comm.) favorable to plankton and planktivores. Geodetically accurate bathymetry maps, coregistered with calibrated acoustic backscatter maps, are critical to delineate benthic biotopes, and are essential to correlate biological community differentiation with the physical environment. Previous mapping of the Pinnacles area using the TAMU towed single-beam sidescan system (Anonymous., 1999) employed technology with inherent deficiencies in backscatter calibration, bathymetric precision, and geo-referencing. The resulting bathymetric interpretations of TAMU data are further degraded by ship-track-parallel artifacts that obliterate geomorphology rendering them inadequate to provide high-resolution mapping of individual target reefs (typical maximum relief 15 m, diameter 200-500 m). The sidescan-sonar surveys of the area (Laswell et al., 1990) suffer many of the same deficiencies as the TAMU data so they add no quantitative and little qualitative information about the geomorphology and surficial geology.

Gulf of Mexico, the Pinnacles area↗

USGS2010

Stratiform chromite deposit model

Stratiform chromite deposits are of great economic importance, yet their origin and evolution remain highly debated. Layered igneous intrusions such as the Bushveld, Great Dyke, Kemi, and Stillwater Complexes, provide opportunities for studying magmatic differentiation processes and assimilation within the crust, as well as related ore-deposit formation. Chromite-rich seams within layered intrusions host the majority of the world's chromium reserves and may contain significant platinum-group-element (PGE) mineralization. This model of stratiform chromite deposits is part of an effort by the U.S. Geological Survey's Mineral Resources Program to update existing models and develop new descriptive mineral deposit models to supplement previously published models for use in mineral-resource and mineral-environmental assessments. The model focuses on features that may be common to all stratiform chromite deposits as a way to gain insight into the processes that gave rise to their emplacement and to the significant economic resources contained in them.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2013

Microbial production of natural gas from coal and organic-rich shale

Natural gas is an important component of the energy mix in the United States, producing greater energy yield per unit weight and less pollution compared to coal and oil. Most of the world’s natural gas resource is thermogenic, produced in the geologic environment over time by high temperature and pressure within deposits of oil, coal, and shale. About 20 percent of the natural gas resource, however, is produced by microorganisms (microbes). Microbes potentially could be used to generate economic quantities of natural gas from otherwise unexploitable coal and shale deposits, from coal and shale from which natural gas has already been recovered, and from waste material such as coal slurry. Little is known, however, about the microbial production of natural gas from coal and shale.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2021

U.S. Geological Survey Arctic ecosystem assessments

The U.S Geological Survey (USGS) conducts natural hazard and resource assessments of the Earth’s ecosystems and the response of those ecosystems to environmental change, human activities, and land use. Arctic regions of Alaska are important for cultural and economic sustainability and host a wide variety of wildlife species, many of which are of conservation and management interest to the U.S. Department of the Interior. The USGS and collaborators provide information about Arctic ecosystems that are used by Arctic residents, management agencies, and industry. This fact sheet describes recent USGS assessments on focal species and important topic areas in the Arctic.

Alaska↗

USGS2011

GLORIA sidescan-sonar imagery for parts of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone and adjacent areas

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed a Proclamation establishing the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the United States extending its territory 200 nautical miles from the coasts of the United States, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and other U.S. territories and possessions. The charter of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) places the primary responsibility for mapping the territories of the United States within the USGS. Upon declaration of the EEZ, the territory of the United States was enlarged by more than 13 million square kilometers, all of which are under water. The USGS EEZ-SCAN program to systematically map the EEZ began in 1984 and continued through 1991. This digital publication contains all the GLORIA sidescan imagery of the deep-water (greater than 200 meters) portion of the EEZ mapped during those 8 years of data collection. For each EEZ area, we describe the data collection surveys and provide downloads of the GLORIA data and metadata.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1966

Extent and frequency of floods on Delaware River in vicinity of Belvidere, New Jersey

A stream overflowing its banks is a natural phenomenon. This natural phenomenon of flooding has occurred on the Delaware River in the past and will occur in the future. T' o resulting inundation of large areas can cause property damage, business losses and possible loss of life, and may result in emergency costs for protection, rescue, and salvage work. For optimum development of the river valley consistent with the flood risk, an evaluation of flood conditions is necessary. Basic data and the interpretation of the data on the regimen of the streams, particularly the magnitude of floods to be expected, the frequency of their occurrence, and the areas inundated, are essential for planning and development of flood-prone areas. This report presents information relative to the extent, depth, and frequency of floods on the Delaware River and its tributaries in the vicinity of Belvidere, N.J. Flooding on the tributaries detailed in the report pertains only to the effect of backwater from the Delaware River. Data are presented for several past floods with emphasis given to the floods of August 19, 1955 and May 24, 1942. In addition, information is given for a hypothetical flood based on the flood of August 19, 1955 modified by completed (since 1955) and planned flood-control works. By use of relations presented in this report the extent, depth, and frequency of flooding can be estimated for any site along the reach of the Delaware River under study. Flood data and the evaluation of the data are presented so that local and regional agencies, organizations, and individuals may have a technical basis for making decisions on the use of flood-prone areas. The Delaware River Basin Commission and the U.S. Geological Survey regard this program of flood-plain inundation studies as a positive step toward flood-damage prevention. Flood-plain inundation studies, when followed by appropriate land-use regulations, are a valuable and economical supplement to physical works for flood control, such as dams and levees. Both physical works and flood-plain regulations are included in the comprehensive plans for development of the Delaware River basin. Recommendations for land use, or suggestions for limitations of land use, are not made herein. Other reports on recommended general use and regulation of land in flood-prone areas are available (Dola, 1961; White, 1961; American Society of Civil Engineers Task Force on Flood Plain Regulations, 1962; and Goddard, 1963). The primary responsibility for planning for the optimum land use in the flood plain and the implementation of flood-plain zoning or other regulations to achieve such optimum use rest with the state and local interests. The preparation of this report was undertaken after consultation with representatives of the Lehigh-Northampton Counties, Pennsylvania, Joint Planning Commission and the Warren County, New Jersey, Regional Planning Board and after both had demonstrated their need for flood-plain information and their willingness to consider flood-plain regulations.

New Jersey↗

USGS1981

Chemical analysis of 45 Maryland coal samples

This report is part of a continuing program by the U.S. Geological Survey, State Geological Surveys, and the Coal Analysis Section of the U.S. Department of Energy to provide chemical data on the composition of important coal beds of the United States of America. Such data are useful in determining the economic value of a coal, environmental effects of coal mining and coal use, and the adaptability of a coal to cleaning and to other technological processes of coal treatment and usage.

Maryland↗

USGS2004

Hydrogeology of Webb County, Texas

Introduction Webb County, in semiarid South Texas on the U.S.-Mexico border, is a region confronted by increasing stresses on natural resources. Laredo (fig. 1), the largest city in Webb County (population 193,000 in 2000), was one of the 10 fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the country during 1990-2000 (Perry and Mackun, 2001). Commercial and industrial activities have expanded throughout the region to support the maquiladora industry (manufacturing plants in Mexico) along the border and other growth as a result of the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The Rio Grande currently (2002) is the primary source of public water supply for Laredo and other cities along the border in Webb County (fig. 1). Other cities, such as Bruni and Mirando City in the southeastern part of the county, rely on ground-water supplies to meet municipal demands. Increased water demand associated with development and population growth in the region has increased the need for the City of Laredo and Webb County to evaluate alternative water sources to meet future demand. Possible options include (1) supplementing the surface-water supply with ground water, and (2) applying artificial storage and recovery (ASR) technology to recharge local aquifers. These options raise issues regarding the hydraulic capability of the aquifers to store economically substantial quantities of water, current or potential uses of the resource, and possible effects on the quality of water resulting from mixing ground water with alternative source waters. To address some of these issues, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the City of Laredo, began a study in 1996 to assess the ground-water resources of Webb County. A hydrogeologic study was conducted to review and analyze available information on the hydrogeologic units (aquifers and confining units) in Webb County, to locate available wells in the region with water-level and water-quality information from the aquifers, and to analyze the hydraulic properties of the aquifers. The purpose of this report is to document the findings of the study. The information is organized by hydrogeologic unit and presented on this and six other sheets.

Texas↗

USGS2002

Hurricane Mitch: Peak Discharge for Selected River Reachesin Honduras

Hurricane Mitch began as a tropical depression in the Caribbean Sea on 22 October 1998. By 26 October, Mitch had strengthened to a Category 5 storm as defined by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale (National Climate Data Center, 1999a), and on 27 October was threatening the northern coast of Honduras (fig. 1). After making landfall 2 days later (29 October), the storm drifted south and west across Honduras, wreaking destruction throughout the country before reaching the Guatemalan border on 31 October. According to the National Climate Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (National Climate Data Center, 1999b), Hurricane Mitch ranks among the five strongest storms on record in the Atlantic Basin in terms of its sustained winds, barometric pressure, and duration. Hurricane Mitch also was one of the worst Atlantic storms in terms of loss of life and property. The regionwide death toll was estimated to be more than 9,000; thousands of people were reported missing. Economic losses in the region were more than $7.5 billion (U.S. Agency for International Development, 1999). Honduras suffered the most widespread devastation during the storm. More than 5,000 deaths, and economic losses of more than $4 billion, were reported by the Government of Honduras. Honduran officials estimated that Hurricane Mitch destroyed 50 years of economic development. In addition to the human and economic losses, intense flooding and landslides scarred the Honduran landscape - hydrologic and geomorphologic processes throughout the country likely will be affected for many years. As part of the U.S. Government's response to the disaster, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted post-flood measurements of peak discharge at 16 river sites throughout Honduras (fig. 2). Such measurements, termed 'indirect' measurements, are used to determine peak flows when direct measurements (using current meters or dye studies, for example) cannot be made. Indirect measurements of peak discharge are based on post-flood surveys of the river channel (observed high-water marks, cross sections, and hydraulic properties) and model computation of peak discharge. Determination of the flood peaks associated with Hurricane Mitch will help scientists understand the magnitude of this devastating hurricane. Peak-discharge information also is critical for the proper design of hydraulic structures (such as bridges and levees), delineation of theoretical flood boundaries, and development of stage-discharge relations at streamflow-monitoring sites.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

USGS2013

Statewide summary for Louisiana: Chapter E in Emergent wetlands status and trends in the northern Gulf of Mexico: 1950-2010

Throughout the past century, emergent wetlands have been declining across the Gulf of Mexico. Emergent wetland ecosystems provide a variety of resources, including plant and wildlife habitat, commercial and recreational economic activity, and natural barriers against storms. As emergent wetland losses increase, so does the need for information on the causes and effects of this loss, emergent wetland mapping, monitoring and restoration efforts, and education. The U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Gulf of Mexico Program are committed to restoring, enhancing, and protecting these important ecosystems. The purpose of this report is to provide scientists, managers, and citizens with valuable baseline information on the status and trends of emergent wetlands along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. This study examines the emergent wetlands of eight individual estuarine areas within the northern Gulf of Mexico region, as well as presenting statewide summaries for Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Each estuarine area is detailed in vignettes that address current status and historical trends of estuarine and palustrine emergent wetlands, emergent wetlands mapping and monitoring, causes of status change, restoration and enhancement activities, background information for the study area, and the methodology employed to analyze and document the historical trends and current status of emergent wetlands. This chapter examines the estuaries of Louisiana.

Louisiana↗

USGS1987

Interpretation of the regional geochemistry of the Tonopah 1 degree by 2 degrees Quadrangle, Nevada, based on analytical results from stream-sediment and nonmagnetic heavy-mineral-concentrate samples

Results of more than 2,400 analyses of <0.25-mm fraction of stream sediments and nonmagnetic heavy-mineral concentrates from stream sediments from 1,217 sites in the Tonopah quadrangle demonstrate the existence of anomalous concentrations of many metals of economic interest in many areas. Single-element anomalies of As, Pb, or Sb in stream sediment provide general guides to possible mineralization, but multi-element suites are more reliable to characterize types of mineralization. Various combinations of Ag, As, Bi, Cu, Mo, Pb, Sb, and W in stream sediments and concentrates provide guides to five general types of deposits and their geologic environments. Multi-element suites that recur in stream-sediment media resemble those observed in mineralized rock samples, and the distribution of the suites corresponds to the distribution of known types of deposits and to the general geology of the region. Multi-element geochemical anomalies are prominent in the Pilot Mountains, Monte Cristo Range, Paradise Range, Lone Mountain, northeastern Toiyabe Range, Cedar Mountains, and Toquima Range. Strongest multi-element anomalies are associated with plutonic rocks in the western part of the quadrangle. Two base-metal suites are enriched in and around plutons: (1) Bi + W + Pb + Mo ± As, Cu, Sb, a suite that resembles metals enriched in rocks samples from skarn deposits; and (2) Pb + Mo ± As,Cu,Sb, which resembles base-metal enrichments in sulfide vein and replacement deposits, generally associated with intrusions. A third variety of base-metal enrichment that contains Ag is distinguished for its possible economic importance. This Ag-Pb-rich suite occurs both near plutons and in volcanic terrane and generally is near areas of known Ag-rich polymetallic deposits. Many sites are characterized by modest enrichments of two to five elements in the suite As-Mo-Sb-Zn-Ag that resemble enrichments in epithermal ore deposits. Many anomalies of this type are from drainages underlain by Tertiary welded tuff, commonly lacking alteration and mineral prospects. Some of these anomalous sites correlate with areas of known epithermal deposits or siliceous alteration of calcareous rocks, thus this suite may be a guide to precious-metal deposits if there is supporting geologic evidence. The results from regional sampling of stream sediments, utilizing the <0.25-mm fraction and nonmagnetic heavy-mineral-concentrate media, effectively outline most areas of known deposits or alteration in the Tonopah quadrangle. Some clusters of anomalies are larger than the area of known mineral prospects, suggesting that other deposits remain to be discovered. This regional geochemical information is most effective for exploration and resource analysis when integrated with other geologic information, especially rock alteration.

Nevada↗

USGS1985

Origin of discontinuities in coal-bearing strata at roaring creek (basal Pennsylvanian of Indiana)

Basal Pennsylvanian coal-bearing strata exposed along Roaring Creek, west-central Indiana, exhibit extreme lateral discontinuity. Coal seams abruptly change in thickness and elevation; they split, grade into shale, are cut out by channels and disrupted by soft-sediment deformational structures. Initial sediments were laid down by a network of southwest-flowing streams that traversed a deeply channelized upland surface of Mississippian carbonate rocks. Channels aggraded rapidly as uplands were worn down, so the region changed through time from uplands to upper deltaic plain. Local environments included channels, localized point bars, small natural levees and crevasse splays, overbank deposits, and swamps. Differential compaction and subsidence, slumping stream banks, and possibly collapsing sinkholes influenced sedimentation. As a consequence, coals are too discontinuous for economical mining, although they are locally thick and high in quality.

International Journal of Coal Geology↗

USGS1926

Ore deposits of the Jerome and Bradshaw Mountains quadrangles, Arizona

In the summer of 1922, at the request of the Director of the United States Geological Survey, I undertook an examination of the ore deposits in the Jerome and Bradshaw Mountains quadrangles, Ariz. (See fig. 1.) The object of this work was not a detailed investigation of each deposit but rather a coordination and classification of the occurrences and an attempt to ascertain their origin and economic importance. Almost all the deposits occur in pre-Cambrian rocks or in rocks that are not readily differentiated from the pre-Cambrian. In the northern part of the Jerome quadrangle there are large areas of almost horizontal Paleozoic beds, and in both quadrangles there are also large areas of lava flows of Tertiary age. Finally there are wide spaces occupied by Tertiary tuff and limestone, or by Tertiary and Quaternary wash filling the valleys between the mountain ranges. But all these rocks except the pre-Cambrian are practically barren of ore deposits, and the problem therefore narrowed itself to an examination of the pre-Cambrian areas. This task was greatly facilitated by the careful work of Jaggar and Palache, set forth in the Bradshaw Mountains folio,l in which the southern quadrangle of the two under present consideration is mapped geologically and described, and which also includes a comprehensive though brief discussion of the mineral deposits. There is no published geologic map of the Jerome quadrangle, but I had the opportunity through the courtesy of Dr. G. M. Butler, Director of the Arizona Bureau of Mines, to use a manuscript map of this area prepared for the State by Mr. L. E. Reber, jr., and Mr. Olaf Jenkins.

Arizona↗

USGS2007

Remotely Sensed Data Collections: Offerings from EROS

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) maintains a wide variety of remotely sensed data collections that contain a wealth of information about the Earth’s land surfaces. Acquired by special sensors carried aboard civilian satellites and aircraft, the images and other data in these collections provide a unique perspective of the terrestrial environment. They represent invaluable resources for scientists, resource managers, policy makers, and educators to use in studying such things as natural hazards, conservation issues, land use and economic development, and environmental change at local, regional, and global levels. Different types of sensors record different types of information, resulting in diverse data products, each with its own particular strengths. Highlighted here are eight remotely sensed data collections that are currently available from EROS.

Fact Sheet↗

USGS2007

Visitor and community survey results for Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge: Completion report

This study was commissioned by the Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in support of the Comprehensive Conservation Planning at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge (Prime Hook NWR or Refuge). The National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-57, USC668dd) mandates a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for every refuge in the system. A refuge CCP outlines goals, objectives, and management strategies for all refuge programs over the next 15 years, while providing opportunities for compatible, wildlifedependent public uses. The plan evaluates refuge wildlife, habitat, land protection, and visitor service priorities during the planning process. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; Public Law 91-190:852-859.42, U.S.C. and as Amended (P.L. 94-52 and P.L. 94-83) 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347) mandates that the CCP for each refuge must contain an analysis of social and economic conditions (the affected environment) and evaluate social and economic results from likely management scenarios. In addition, public review and comment on alternatives for future management is required. To that end, this research was conducted by the Policy Analysis and Science Assistance Branch (PASA) of the U.S. Geological Survey/Fort Collins Science Center in order to determine how current and proposed CCP planning strategies for Prime Hook NWR could affect: Visitor use Visitor experiences Visitor spending Community residents’ perceptions and opinions Data for this study were collected using a survey administered to visitors to Prime Hook NWR and individuals living in the communities surrounding the Refuge. Surveys were randomly distributed to both consumptive and nonconsumptive use visitors over a one year period (September 2004 to September 2005) to account for seasonal variation in Refuge use. Three hundred thirty-two visitor surveys were returned for a response rate of 80 percent with a confidence interval of ± 5.4. Surveys were also distributed to a stratified random sample of community members in adjacent and surrounding areas (Slaughter Beach, Broadkill Beach, Prime Hook Beach, Milton, Lewes, Milford, and surrounding communities). Four hundred ninety-one surveys from the overall community sample were returned for a response rate of 39 percent with a ± 4.4 confidence interval. Community member results were weighted by U.S. Census Bureau data to correct for age and gender bias, and for community proportionality.

Delaware↗

USGS2010

Seamounts and ferromanganese crusts within and near the U.S. EEZ off California - Data for RV Farnella cruise F7-87-SC

The purpose of this report is to present and briefly describe ship-board and laboratory data for a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research cruise aboard the RV Farnella that took place December 3-21, 1987 (cruise F7-87-SC). The purpose of the cruise was to survey seamounts and ferromanganese crusts within and near the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off California. Eight seamounts were studied - Rodriguez, San Marcos, Adam, Hoss, Little Joe, Ben, Flint, and Jasper. A geophysical survey of Jasper Seamount took place, but that seamount was not sampled; whereas Adam and Hoss Seamounts were sampled, but not surveyed with geophysics lines.

California↗