Postwar and Cold War

Some of the postwar problems faced by the Survey at the end of the war were reminiscent of those after World War I. Half the Nation, including a large part of the public lands, was still without topographic maps, and many of the available maps were inadequate to meet the needs of the postwar world. Geologic mapping of the country was even less complete. Less than 10 percent of the country had been mapped geologically on scales suitable for an appraisal of natural resources and land potential to meet modern needs, and the rate of mapping possible with funds available was only one-sixth of that needed to complete the job by 1980. Base-metal reserves had been greatly depleted during the war, the limit of the Nation's capacity to produce efficiently from known oil fields had been reached, and appraisal of coal reserves and the search for new supplies was considered urgent.

The Geological Survey prepared a plan to provide adequate topographic maps for the entire Nation within 20 years, needing only funds to implement it, planned major studies on copper, lead, zinc, iron, and the ferroalloy metals, and the continuation or expansion of regional studies to aid the search for new petroleum supplies.

There were new problems as well. The United States was accounted a have-not nation in radioactive raw materials, and wartime technological developments had created needs for many other rare elements, such as beryllium and tungsten. Development of the Missouri River Basin by coordinated projects of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers, authorized by Congress in December 1944, would begin as soon as the war was over. The Survey would be called on to conduct an extensive topographic-mapping program, an intensive multiyear program of hydrologic data collection and investigations, and geologic investigations to help determine the availability of construction materials, suitability for irrigation, susceptibility to landslides, and water-holding capacity of various sites. Survey scientists and engineers also continued to serve in foreign areas. Under the auspices of the State Department, cooperative projects were continued in several Latin American countries. Several members of the Military Geology Section were assigned to the Natural Resources Section, General Headquarters, Supreme Allied Powers, in Tokyo, where they formed the main part of the Mining and Geology Division. Geologic and hydrologic studies were also made in Korea, and two geologists were assigned to the general engineer district in Manila to make surveys of construction materials to aid in the rebuilding of Manila and to cooperate in a program designed to develop the valuable mineral deposits of the Philippine Islands.

Both the Geologic and the Topographic Branches reorganized to cope better with postwar problems. The Geologic Branch was divided in the fall of 1945 into two groups of sections, one of economic geology, the other of basic and engineering sciences. Included were sections for new specialties in foreign geology, engineering geology, military geology, and geophysics. The Topographic Branch established two staff divisions, Plans and Coordination, and Research and Technical Control, on January 2, 1946, to prepare for an immense mapping effort with new mapping techniques. In a major change, on July 1, 1946, the topographic mapping facilities and commitments of the Alaskan Branch were transferred to the Topographic Branch. In October, the Alaskan Branch was dissolved as a major organizational unit and its geologic staff transferred to the Geologic Branch. The Water Resources Branch had an almost complete change of management in 1946 with a new Chief Hydraulic Engineer, new chiefs of the Surface Water, Ground Water, and Quality of Water Divisions, and a great increase in the number and size of State-level district offices. Then on January 1, 1949, as the Survey approached its 70th birthday, its time-honored nomenclature for organizational units was changed to conform to usage in other parts of the Federal Government. The Branches became Divisions, the Sections became Branches, and the former Divisions lost any distinguishing title.

Science and the management of natural resources received increased attention in both the domestic and foreign policy of the administration. In September 1945, President Harry Truman, concerned about petroleum resources, claimed Federal authority over the Continental Shelf and provoked a legislative and judicial battle, eventually settled in 1953 when the coastal States were given authority over submerged lands to a maximum distance of 3 geographical miles. In 1946, the Atomic Energy Commission and the Bureau of Land Management were established. In 1947, the President's Scientific Research Board called for an increase in annual expenditures for research and development and an increased emphasis on basic research. In his inaugural address in 1949, President Truman called for U.S. capital and technical assistance to underdeveloped areas of the world. In 1949, also, the Hoover Commission on the Reorganization of the Federal Government proposed a new role for the Department of the Interior in the development of subsoil and water resources, and the Senate and House held joint hearings in search of an improved policy for the conservation, development, and administration of the natural resources. In January 1950, the President appointed a Water Resources Policy Commission to recommend a comprehensive policy for water resources and related land-use development; in May 1950, the National Science Foundation was established and a new office, of the Assistant Secretary for Mineral Resources, was established in the Department of the Interior.

The scientific programs were expanded as increased funds became available. At first, Congress was amazed at the amounts the Survey requested in its first postwar budgets, and appropriations were far less than was requested, but transfers of funds from other Federal agencies, notably the Department of Defense, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Bureau of Reclamation, together with cooperative funds from the States, made the total available about twice the appropriation. After the initial shock, Congress increased appropriations to more than $15 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1949, and more than $19 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1950.

By 1950, the Geological Survey began undertaking investigations in new areas to meet the demand for current information. Geologic mapping was needed in fast-growing industrial areas to provide geologic data for the many types of engineering construction. The demand for construction of large dams to impound water for irrigation, power development, flood control, and industrial use focused attention on the need for information on the effect of waterloss by evaporation and the limitation of the useful life of reservoirs by deposition of sediment as well as on stream flow and sediment load. The heavy drain on ground-water resources during the war had resulted in critical conditions in many areas; saltwater encroachment was a subject of special concern in some coastal areas. Efforts to upgrade the Nation's highways required hydrologic data and flood studies to aid highway drainage design. When funds were appropriated for technical assistance programs, Survey scientists and engineers took on assignments in the Eastern Hemisphere, and the Survey extended its in-service training program in geology and the administration of research organizations for promising young scientists of Latin American countries to scientists of the Eastern Hemisphere countries.