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The FWS Division of Migratory Bird Management is integrating remote sensing and machine learning technologies to improve safety, data quality, and efficiency of broad-scale migratory bird surveys. The Division uses manned Department of the Interior fleet aircraft to monitor migratory bird populations over vast regions of North America.

The Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite near Shell, Wyoming, showcases an exposed dry wash with hundreds of Jurassic, carnivorous dinosaur tracks preserved in the rock. The tracks, formed approximately 167 million years ago, were discovered by members of the public in 1997. The BLM has created a 40-acre recreation site around this quarter-acre tracksite and is tasked with preserving the tracks and their value for the public.

The BLM’s National Operations Center (NOC) frequently assists field offices with production verification at mine sites across the West, but these analyses are often limited by a lack of historical data.

Migratory species depend on a chain of habitats for survival, including breeding habitats, overwintering sites, and migratory stopover locations. Barrier islands in the northern Gulf of Mexico provide habitat for all three of these life-history phases and are important habitat for many shorebird species, such as Red Knots, Piping Plovers, and Western Sandpipers.

Carbonate precipitation can occur where groundwater enters lakes and supplies chemicals missing from the lake, creating carbonate mounds called tufa mounds or microbialites. These precipitates can often be associated with microbes that either create micro-environments that encourage precipitation or act as templates for precipitation.

The USGS is developing innovative technologies and approaches for measuring river discharge using remotely sensed data. Given the expense associated with remote sensing from conventional aerial platforms (e.g., helicopter, airplane), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) offer hydrographers a lower cost alternative for data acquisition.

Obtaining timely, accurate information on streamflow in Alaska’s rivers is difficult because gaging stations are sparse, with many located in remote inaccessible areas. Even for established gages, the maintenance and periodic measurements required to operate a gage are logistically challenging and can place personnel at risk, particularly during high flows.

The USGS Dakota Water Science Center is conducting high-resolution hydrographic mapping on two additional study areas in southeastern South Dakota.

As part of a Natural Resource Damage Assessment settlement related to contaminant releases from the Molycorp/Questa Molybdenum mine, subalpine fens, wetlands, and associated stream habitat for the native Rio Grande cutthroat trout are being restored in high-altitude headwaters of Bitter Creek, New Mexico.

The National Map Corps (TNMCorps), a crowdsourced mapping project, relies on volunteers to assist the USGS National Geospatial Program by collecting and editing man-made structures data for The National Map. Through their participation, volunteers make important contributions to the USGS’s ability to provide the Nation with accurate mapping information.