Executive Summary

The USGS delivers reliable and impartial information that describes the Earth, its natural processes, and its natural species. Since joining the USGS in November 1998, Director Charles Groat has emphasized that integrating science is the key to its relevance. As we seek to more completely integrate the esearch of our various disciplines, we will strive to respect the expertise from each discipline and present a balanced view of the issues involved. High quality, objective, credible research and information are our most important products. Honesty and integrity in all aspects of our scientific enterprise, maintaining our impartiality, and ensuring that our information and products are used to benefit the public as a whole will continue to be hallmarks of USGS science.

A Strategic Change team, co-chaired by the Director, defined the actions needed to make USGS streamlined, stronger and more flexible, providing the framework for us to reach the long-term goals we have outlined in our revised Strategic Plan for FY 2000 through 2005 as well as strategically positioning the USGS for response to the Administration's management reform agenda for strategic management of human capital. Since January 2000, the Director has been implementing those actions, restructuring the bureau, and redefining business practices. He has established a regional management structure that improves our ability to provide citizen-centered service and facilitates an integrated science approach to national earth and biological science problems. The USGS has convened a Workforce Balance Team to provide a bureau focus to issues relating to workforce balance as well as to the statutory and administrative requirements concerning competitive sourcing and the Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act Inventory accuracy. This Team coordinates its effort with the Workforce Planning Team to ensure a direct and focused contribution to the overall workforce planning effort.

The year 2001 has been a successful transition year, consolidating administrative functions, implementing common business practices, and training people for full implementation of a single, comprehensive science planning, performance measurement, and financial system in 2003. These changes ensure that the USGS continues to be a world leader in the natural sciences by providing both the discipline-based and integrated science on which people have come to depend. Further, they enhance our tradition of excellence by increasing our ability to work on large regional natural resource problems and more effectively draw on the full breadth of scientific capability available within the USGS.

Critical to monitoring our progress in achieving our strategic direction are the annual performance targets and measures presented in this annual plan. In their new roles, Regional and Associate Directors are ensuring that performance metrics are collected, evaluated, and achieved at appropriate levels in the bureau and that performance data are verified and measures validated in addition, the Deputy Director convened a Performance Measure Strategic Review Panel in August 2001 with a charge that included recommendations on the next generation metrics focusing on outcomes.

USGS has two performance goals: Hazards and Environment and Natural Resources with twelve associated performance measures and customer satisfaction metrics. At the end of fiscal year 2001, USGS had met or exceeded eight performance targets and failed to meet four. The unmet Hazards goal target (streamgages) was planned to be recovered in the middle of FY 2002 The count for two other unmet targets, stakeholder meetings in Hazards and systematic analyses in Environment and Natural Resources, resulted from combining some of the meetings and reports, causing a lower count, but not a critical failure. For the customer satisfaction metrics, base ́ine data were collected

beginning in FY 2000 and continuing through FY 2001. More than 1,000 customers, mostly scientists, described their satisfaction with various aspects of USGS science products. Product attrition and lower than anticipated response rates for the survey of Hazard products led us to defer achievement of a baseline for Hazards. A baseline index of satisfaction with USGS Environment and Natural Resources products of 95 percent was defined in FY 2001. For FY 2002, we will attempt to expand the hazards survey to derive an independent metric. In addition, we will convert the customer satisfaction survey effort into an ongoing activity running roughly 2-3 science product surveys each quarter.

For FY 2003, the baseline targets for each budget activity and the incremental targets associated with requested program changes are cataloged and presented in tabular form in the President's Budget to facilitate integration of performance with budget decisions. In addition to our ongoing science and information activities, USGS proposes several new initiatives for FY 2003. Development of an Enterprise GIS directly supports the President's management goal of expanding electronic government, making it easier for citizens to access and use the USGS' vast spatial data holdings. Both our energy resource and Alaska data initiatives support the President's National Energy Policy and the Administration's commitment to a secure energy supply while protecting the environment by providing a solid scientific basis for decisionmaking. The USGS also

proposes to increase science support in the Everglades in consultation with the National Park Service (NPS) to address both the immediate research needs of the NPS and the long-term goals of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. USGS will expand our contribution to the resolution of U.S. Mexico Border Environmental Health issues through collaboration with the National Institute of Environmental Health Services on the severe and complex issues, particularly those that relate to environmental changes resulting from the rapid growth taking place in the area. Performance targets will also be significantly reduced by several funding decreases such as those proposed for streamgages, elimination of the Water Resources Research institutes program and transfer of the Toxic Substance Hydrology research program funding to National Science Foundation to operate as a grants program.

Quality science that is both relevant and effectively communicated is our most important product. We will continue to measure its quality and relevance through peer reviews and program evaluations such as the review of USGS' Future Roles and Opportunities conducted by the National Research Council (NRC). We believe that our leadership and our plan are helping us meet the challenges of the new century and that the NRC review validates our purpose and mission. Our systematic survey of customer satisfaction with our products and services renews our commitment to accountability.