The federal government agency of the United States responsible for their national mapping program. The USGS began publishing topographic maps in 1886 as an aid to scientific studies. Today as the U.S.A.'s largest civilian mapping agency, the USGS has produced more than 85 000 different maps and digital products. The most familiar product is the 1:24 000 scale topographic (7' 30" format) quadrangle map series.

A bureau of the Department of the Interior. USGS was established in 1879 following several Federally sponsored independent natural resource surveys of the West and Midwest. The Department of the Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural resources. The USGS monitors resources such as energy, minerals, water, land, agriculture, and irrigation. The resulting scientific information contributes to environmental-policy decision making and public safety. For example, USGS identifies flood- and landslide-prone areas and maintains maps of the United States.

See (United States) Geological Survey (USGS).

An agency of the U.S. Department of Interior that operates hydrologic data networks and conducts a variety of water-resources studies to support the resource assessment, evaluation, planning, conservation, and protection programs of federal, state and local agencies.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology.