Under George Otis Smith, Director of the Sur- 

 vey from 1907 to 1930, the major emphasis was 

 on conservation and land management. A program 

 of research in fundamental geological science was 

 funded in 1930 but was discontinued after 3 years 

 because of the depression. Strategic minerals in- 

 vestigations, which had been a significant contri- 

 bution during World War I, were again funded in 

 1938. 



USGS— Current Trends 



Since World War II, all programs of the Geo- 

 logical Survey have been greatly expanded. In 

 1952, the Survey reported obligations for basic 

 research of $4.9 million, all in physical sci- 

 ences.-'" By 1963, this had grown to $15.6 million, 

 excluding topographic mapping and stream gaug- 

 ing. All of this except $250,000 was intramural, all 

 in the physical sciences (which in that reference 

 included engineering and mathematics) except for 

 $246,000 in the biological sciences. 21 1 For 1977, 

 the estimates are $106.4 million, with $98.5 mil- 

 lion in environmental sciences, $6.9 million in 

 physical sciences, and $1.1 million in mathemat- 

 ics. Most of this research is intramural but $4.0 

 million of it is done in universities and $227,000 in 

 industry. -I- USGS intramural research is per- 

 formed at the headquarters in Reston, Va., at the 

 Center for Astrogeology in Flagstaff, Ariz., and at 

 two regional centers in Denver, Colo., and Menlo 

 Park, Calif. All of these are Government-operated. 



Bureau of Reclamation 



The Reclamation Service was separated from 

 the USGS in 1907, becoming the Bureau of Recla- 

 mation in 1923. The only mention of research in 

 the monograph describing Reclamation in 1919 

 referred to the action of alkali on concrete.-'^ The 

 Bureau still does very little basic research; only 

 $70,000 is estimated for it in 1977, all in engineer- 

 ing.314 



Bureau of Mines 



The Bureau of Mines separated from the USGS 

 in 1910, and its early activities included research 

 on several topics in order to carry out its respon- 

 sibilities in the mining field. This research ad- 

 dressed such topics as the prevention of mining 



-'"Fedenil Funds. Vol. II. p. .12. 



-llFedera/ Funds. Vol. XIII. NSF 6,S-13, pp. I46,l.'i0. 

 -''Federal Funds. Vol. XXVI. NSF 77 317, Tables CM and 

 C-30. 



-"T/ie U.S. Reclamation Service: Its History. Activities, and 

 Organization. Service Monograph No. 2 (Institute for Govern- 

 ment Research: New York, 1919), p. 99. 



-"^ Federal Funds.Voi. XXVI, NSF 77 317. Table C-M. 



accidents, mining, mineral technology, metallurgy, 

 and fuels. -15 Its mission briefly included testing 

 structural materials but this function was trans- 

 ferred to NBS in 1913. In 1915 the Bureau be- 

 came active in nonferrous metals research, and 

 Congress provided for 10 regional experiment sta: 

 tions. These developed into regional laboratories, 

 which concentrated on local problems. In 1917, 

 when the demand for radium was great, the Bu- 

 reau of Mines established a cooperative program 

 with the National Radium Institute to make the 

 Institute's knowledge on radium available.-'^ Dur- 

 ing World War I the Bureau conducted research on 

 the separation of helium from natural gas, on the 

 storage of helium, on nitrogen fixation, and on 

 defense against gas warfare.-'"' 



In 1922, the Bureau of Mines had a total operat- 

 ing budget of $1.5 million, including $200,000 for 

 mining experiment stations, $50,000 for operating 

 the Pittsburgh laboratories, $160,000 for research 

 in mining and mineral technology, and $278,000 

 for research on solid fuels, petroleum, and natural 

 gas. 218 In 1952, reported obligations for basic re- 

 search were $2.5 million, all in the physical sci- 

 ences. 219 In 1963, the basic research budget was 

 $3.4 million, all for work in the physical sciences, 

 and of which only $4,000 was extramural. 220 f^e 

 estimates for basic research in 1977 are down to 

 $800,000— $680,000 in the physical sciences and 

 $120,000 in engineering, all of it intramural. One 

 reason for this decrease is that five laboratories 

 were transferred to ERDA in 1975. 



U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 



As early as 1850, Connecticut passed a law pro- 

 tecting insectivorous birds. 221 In 1885 Congress 

 appropriated $5,000 for research in economic or- 

 nithology to be done under Agriculture's Division 

 of Entomology, and the next year a separate divi- 

 sion was established for economic ornithology 

 and mammalogy. In 1905 the Biological Survey 

 was moved out of this division to become a sepa- 

 rate bureau. This bureau and the Department 

 of Commerce's Bureau of Fisheries (formerly the 

 Fish Commission) were transferred to the Depart- 

 ment of the Interior in 1939 and became a new 



2i5powell, F.W., TTie Bureau of Mines: Its History. Activities, 

 and Organization. Service Monograph No. .1 (Institute for Gov- 

 ernment Research: New York, 1922), p. 71. 



2i<'Ibid.. pp. 20-21. 



^I'^Ibid., p. -36. 



2'8lbid., pp. 143-144. 



^'''Federal Funds. Vol. II. p. 31. 



^20 Federal Funds. Vol. XIII. NSF6.'^-I3, pp. 146, I.SO. 



22lCameron, Jenks, TTie Bureau of the Biological Survey: Its 

 History. Activities, and Organization. Service Monograph No 

 .')4 (Institute for Government Research: Baltimore, 1929), p 12. 



COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS AND HISTORICAL TRENDS 347 



