Every spring for the last 31 years, Reed Lewis has traversed Idaho to do what technology still cannot: examine rocks, collect samples and make a map that is critical for mining, oil and gas and other industries. He knows getting an early start is essential, as summer smoke and winter snows limit the days that are useful for gathering data.
Dr. Lewis, a geologist for the state of Idaho, is normally in the field by June at the latest. But halfway through the month, he’s stuck at his desk.
That’s because amid uncertainty over the federal budget, funds from Washington that pay for geological mapping have not arrived. “It’s starting to be worrisome,” Dr. Lewis said. The concern is widespread; no states have received their 2025 mapping money.
What’s more, one line in the Trump administration’s proposed budget could hamstring the ability of states to create basic geologic maps for years to come.
Geologists in every state use federal funds to study wildfires, water resources, hazards and to map the locations of mineral deposits and energy sources. In addition to mining and fossil fuel industries, the free and publicly available maps are used by geothermal energy and real estate companies.
Private companies might map a small area of particular interest but they generally do not share the information.
The administration’s proposed budget would cut funding to the United States Geological Survey by nearly 40 percent, including “grants to universities.”
That could affect federal funds that are delivered through universities and relied on by small survey offices in states that are rich in minerals and fossil fuels like Montana, Colorado, Nevada and Idaho.
“These cuts would just make mineral exploration harder,” said Simon Jowitt, who leads Nevada’s state survey. “We would have a significant reduction in the work we can do, right when we need to be ramping it up to support the minerals industry and national and economic security.”
The U.S. Geological Survey declined to answer questions about the potential impacts of budget cuts on funding to state surveys, and the White House Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a similar request.
Geologists have been mapping the country since the U.S. Geological Survey was founded in 1879. “But when it comes to mapping, there’s no such thing as being ‘done,’” Dr. Lewis said.
Advances in technology like lidar, which uses lasers to scan the ground through vegetation, let geologists update maps with new details of landslides and faults. The theory of plate tectonics was not widely accepted until the 1960s, so maps made before then may not be reliable. And many states have spots that were last mapped more than a century ago.
The federal government also conducts mapping, but maps made by state surveys are typically done in smaller areas with more detail.
Some geologists are concerned that if mapping doesn’t happen this year, they will quietly lose funding in the future, especially given the proposed federal cuts. Many states already face shrinking budgets and would not be able to make up the losses.
“Every year you don’t map, that will postpone a lot of crucial information,” said Russ Di Fiori, who leads the mapping effort at Washington’s state survey. “Revisiting these areas through the lens of what we know now is really important.”
A recent report found that about $2 billion of investments in geologic mapping from 1994 to 2009 yielded tens of billions of dollars in value to industries that use them. Having public geologic maps saves companies time and money and adds a degree of transparency to work, the report says.
So the cuts seem counterintuitive to many geologists.
“We consider geologic mapping to be a foundational component of America’s infrastructure,” said Jessica Moore, a geologist who leads West Virginia’s survey.
The proposed cuts would mean shrinking Idaho’s survey staff by half; almost all of their work on critical minerals comes through grants. If their federal funding is cut, “it will be a total disaster,” said Claudio Berti, the lead geologist for Idaho’s survey. Nevada would be similarly affected, reducing its staff and its ability to explore a massive lithium deposit.
The funding delay and proposed cuts came as a surprise because both Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Ned Mamula, the nominee to be the director of the U.S. Geological Survey, have spoken highly of geologic mapping. Mr. Burgum, whose background is in the energy sector, has said the United States should “Map, baby, map!”
But right now, state geologists are left wondering: With what money?
“We can help with energy dominance and unleashing American energy,” Dr. Moore said. “Our staff stand ready for deployment, but we cannot deploy if we do not have these funds.”
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