The President?s FY 2009 Budget Request for USGS Providing science to face tomorrow?s challenges

[Clarice E Ransom <cransom@xxxxxxxx>]

News Release

U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey

For release: February 4, 2008

Contacts:      
  Jessica Robertson, 703-648-6624, jrobertson@xxxxxxxx
       
         Michael Gauldin, 703,648-4054,
mgauldin@xxxxxxxx
        
The President’s FY
2009 Budget Request for USGS

Providing science to
face tomorrow’s challenges

The President has proposed a budget
of $968.5 million for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in fiscal year
2009, a decrease of $38.0 million from the 2008 enacted level. The FY 2009
budget focuses on the highest priorities for research while ensuring that
the USGS builds the expertise it needs to continue answering the complex
scientific questions that may arise. The budget includes $34.9 million
in program increases and $15.0 million in fixed costs, offset by $87.8
million in reductions for lower priority efforts and unrequested increases.

“The USGS is committed to providing
timely, objective scientific information in support of key Departmental
and Presidential priorities, including Water for America, Birds Forever,
Healthy Lands, and Ocean and Coastal Frontiers,” said USGS Director Mark
Myers. “The proposed budget will also strengthen our efforts in climate
change studies, priority ecosystems research and the development of a National
Land Imaging Program.”

The 2009 budget includes a net
increase of $8.2 million to support the water census component of the $21.3
million Water for America Initiative with the Bureau of Reclamation. To
support the water census, the National Streamflow Information Program is
funded at $23.8 million, including an increase of $3.7 million to upgrade
350 streamgages with real-time telemetry and to reinstate 50 discontinued
streamgages in 2009. Increases of $3.0 million for the Ground-Water Resources
Program and $1.5 million for Cooperative Geologic Mapping will provide
additional support for the water census by increasing knowledge related
to groundwater resources.

The Birds Forever Initiative is
a joint effort between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the USGS.
A proposed $1.0 million increase to support this initiative will fund USGS
efforts to better understand large-scale drivers of migratory bird population
and habitat change such as global warming, deforestation and urban development.
This initiative supports monitoring efforts, including the Breeding Bird
Survey and other migratory bird monitoring activities. 

The budget also proposes a $3.5
million increase to expand activities in support of the Healthy Lands Initiative,
and the USGS is a significant partner in this multi-bureau initiative.
 Continuing work in southwest Wyoming, the USGS will conduct an ecological
assessment in Healthy Lands Initiative areas to develop a baseline of scientific
information related to wildlife habitat and development activities occurring
or planned.  Tools, models, and protocols developed will be transferred
and applied to other areas. 

In addition, the proposed budget
includes an increase of $7.0 million for oceans science in support of the
Department’s Ocean and Coastal Frontiers Initiative and completing the
work started in 2008 on the U.S. Ocean Action Plan. Coastal and Marine
Geology is funded at $47.4 million. An increase of $4.0 million will be
used to collect data for the extended Continental Shelf of the Arctic Ocean,
working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to support
the Nation’s claim to its mineral and energy rights in the extended Continental
Shelf. An additional $2.0 million will be used to conduct merit-based ocean
research projects, and $1.0 million will complete funding for efforts in
seafloor mapping, models to forecast response to extreme weather events,
and developing a water quality monitoring network.

The 2009 budget reflects a restructuring
to create a global change activity and sustains $5.0 million of the $7.4
million increase in 2008 for climate change science. The 2009 request of
$26.6 million includes $21.6 million in base funds to continue current
global change research, $4.0 million to establish a pilot program in Alaska
for a national climate change network, and $1.0 million for climate change
adaptation studies. These components will provide critical monitoring information
needed for predictive modeling related to our changing climate and its
effects on the landscape and the Nation’s resources.

The 2009 budget consolidates funding
for a new Global Change Activity totaling $26.6 million that is supported
by an additional $4.8 million in Climate Change Science, bringing total
climate change funding to $31.4 million.

Priority ecosystems studies have
a proposed budget of $10.4 million. The USGS will continue funding for
work in the Greater Everglades, Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay, the
Mojave Desert, the Platte River, and Yellowstone.

Land Remote Sensing is funded at
$62.6 million, including a programmatic increase of $2.0 million to develop
a National Land Imaging Program. This program will assess the future need
for civil, operational land imaging data and develop a blueprint to determine
future needs for acquisition of satellite data to supplement Landsat 7
imagery.

In order to focus programs on activities
that are inherently governmental and to concentrate on highest priority
research, the President’s 2009 budget reduces funding to the Mineral Resources
and the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) programs. A $24.6 million
net reduction to Mineral Resource Assessments is proposed, which will result
in a 2009 program of $26.3 million. A $10.9 million net reduction to NAWQA
is proposed for a total 2009 program of $54.1 million. The President’s
2009 budget also reduces the Earthquake Hazards Program by $5.0 million,
retaining $49.1 million for the highest priority earthquake research projects.

For more information on the President’s
proposed USGS FY 2009 budget, visit http://www.usgs.gov/budget/2009/2009index.asp.

The USGS provides science for a
changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.

Subscribe to USGS News Releases
via our electronic
mailing list or RSS
feed.