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Suggested Citation:"Washington." National Research Council. 1932. Summary Information on the State Geological Surveys & the United States Geological Survey: Bulletin of the National Research Council. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9570.
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Page 115
Suggested Citation:"Washington." National Research Council. 1932. Summary Information on the State Geological Surveys & the United States Geological Survey: Bulletin of the National Research Council. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9570.
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Page 116
Suggested Citation:"Washington." National Research Council. 1932. Summary Information on the State Geological Surveys & the United States Geological Survey: Bulletin of the National Research Council. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9570.
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Page 117

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THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 115 Rogers, of the University of Virginia, as director. From 1904 to 1906 a survey of the mineral resources was conducted jointly by the State Board of Agriculture and Immigration and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, with Professor T. L. Watson as geologist in charge. With the reorganization of the Virginia Geological Survey in 1908, Professor Watson was appointed director, which position he held until his death on November 10, 1924. (For information about these earlier Surveys, see United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 465, 191.1.) WASHINGTON * The name of the geological survey organization for the State of NVash- ington is Division of Geology. It was inaugurated at the time of the adoption of the civil administrative code in 1921. The office has been located since that time at Pullman, Washington, being housed with the Department of Geology of the State College of Washington. All com- munications may be addressed simply Pullman, Washington. SCOPE OF ACTIVITIES The scope of the functions of the Division as determined by the laws of the State is the same under the present administrative code as under the original establishment of the State Geological Survey of 1901. The specified objects for the Survey were eight in number, as follows: (1) An examination of the economic products of the State, viz., the gold, silver, copper, lead, and iron ores, as well as building stones, clays, coal and all mineral substances of value. (2) An examination and classification of the soils, and the study of their adaptability to particular crops. (3) The investigation and report upon water supplies, artesian wells, the water power of the State, gauging the streams, etc., with reference to their application for irrigation and other purposes. (4) An examination and report upon the occurrence of different road building material. (~) An examination of the physical features of the State with refer- ence to their practical bearing upon the occupations of the people. ~ 6) The preparation of special geological and economic maps to illustrate the resources of the State. ( 7 ) The preparation of special reports with necessary illustrations and maps, which shall embrace both the general and detailed description of the geology and natural resources of the State. (8) The consideration of such other kindred scientific and economic questions as in the judgment of the board shall be deemed of value to the people of the State. * Information furnished by Harold E. Culver, Supervisor, March, 1032.

116 THE STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS AND ORGANIZATION Under the present administrative code the Division of Geology is a unit within the Department of Conservation and Development. The affairs of this department are under the control of a, Director who has power "to appoint and deputize a competent assistant, director to be known as the Supervisor of Geology.,' With the small financial support accorded the work of the Division under the present administration, it has been the policy of the Director of the Department of Conservation and Development to delegate very largely to the Supervisor the conduct of the activities of the Division. The present Supervisor of the Division of Geology is Harold E. Culver, appointed by the present Director of the Department in 1925 for an indefinite term of office. Under the present administration this appoint- ment is largely ex officio, by virtue of the appointee's position as lIead of the Department of Geology at the State College of Washington. Com- pensa,tion is fixed by law as ten dollars per diem plus traveling expense while engaged in field work, but under the ruling of the Board of Regents of the State College, now obtaining, no per diem salary is receivable. Compensation for field expenses is not prohibited. Owing to present financial conditions, the assistants to the Supervisor for clerical and drafting work are drawn largely from. the students of the State College of Washington on a part-time basis. This employment amounts to approximately one full-time assistant during the college year. The geological assistants, utilized only during the field season, are drawn from the faculties and students of the State College of Washing- ton and the University of Washington. The staff members serve without pay; the field assistants receive a small stipend. No chemical or metal- lurgical work is carried on by the Division itself, all such work being handled by the respective departments of the State College of lATa,sh- ington. Topographic work of the Division is carried on solely by cooperation with the federal agencies. APPROPRIATIONS The appropriations for the past four fiscal years have been made through the adoption of an approved budget for the Department of Conservation and Development, an integral part of the budget of the office of the Governor. No other funds are available. The appropriations are made triennially and have amounted to $5,000 each for geological survey and topographic survey. The topographic appropriation is ex- pended under the cooperative agreement with the Topographic Branch of the United States Geological Survey.

THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 117 For the biennium ending March 31, 1931, the appropriations were lump sums without specification as to the details of expenditure, these being subject to the approval of the Director of the Department of Con- servation and Development. The appropriation covering the present biennium was made as a lump sum for the whole Department, without specification as to allotments for the divisions, but with specification as to allotments for salaries and wages and for operation, in approximately the ratio of fifteen to thirty-five. The expenditures for administrative and routine clerical work, for geologic work and miscellaneous activities are so irregular as not to permit an accurate measurement of averages for each item. For the past few years approximately sixty per cent of the biennial appropriation has gone for geologic work; the remainder has very largely been devoted to routine clerical work. All topographic work has been carried on under cooperative agreement. lIence, the total appropriation has been so ex- pended. PUBLICATIONS Since the present organization went into effect there have been pub- lished six bulletins, all economic in character, and one Report of Investi- gat.ions which was merely an abstract. of an unpublished bulletin. Since 1926, publication has been largely suspended on account of the lack of adequate. funds. So far, no publications on subjects other than geology have been prepared. Funds should be increased about one hundred per cent to permit pub- lication of material now available. PRINCIPAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS SINCE lDll Since 1911, which period includes one decade under the old geological Survey organization and one under the new, there have been published twenty-four bulletins, largely economic but including five which might be classed as scientific or educational. Topographic work done under cooperation, together with non-cooperatiye federal mapping, has brought the total area satisfactorily mapped to a little more than fifty per cent of the total area of the State. PRESENT MAIN LINES OF WORK For the balance of the present biennium there are no moneys avail- a.ble for field work, and only. the absolutely essential expenditures are authorized. The situation arises from the unusual mode of appropria

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