Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Rocky Mountain Region

USGS Region 7 Staff support and advise USGS Science Centers that provide numerous stakeholders with vital information about spatial distribution and temporal trends in critical minerals, energy resources, geology, water resources, native plants and wildlife, and hazards posed by earthquakes and landslides in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming and beyond.

News

New research highlights opportunities for enhacing amphibian occupancy in Rocky Mountain National Park

New research highlights opportunities for enhacing amphibian occupancy in Rocky Mountain National Park

Media Alert: Low-level helicopter flights to image geology over Wyoming and Colorado

Media Alert: Low-level helicopter flights to image geology over Wyoming and Colorado

Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA February 2025 Seminar

Saline Lake Ecosystems IWAA February 2025 Seminar

Publications

Bayesian mapping of regionally grouped, sparse, univariate earth science data

Some earth science data are naturally grouped by region, and it is often desirable to map these data by region. However, if there are only a few samples within each region, then the map should be smoothed in an appropriate way to mitigate the problems that arise from having only a few samples. A smoothing algorithm based on a Bayesian hierarchical model is developed and presented in this...
Authors
Karl J. Ellefsen, Bronwen Wang, Margaret A. Goldman

Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Lower Cretaceous Hosston and Travis Peak Formations, U.S. Gulf Coast, 2024

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated undiscovered, technically recoverable mean resources of 28 million barrels of oil and 35.8 trillion cubic feet of gas in conventional and continuous accumulations within the Lower Cretaceous Hosston and Travis Peak Formations of the onshore U.S. Gulf Coast region.
Authors
Lauri A. Burke, Stanley T. Paxton, Scott A. Kinney, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos, Russell F. Dubiel, Janet K. Pitman, Christopher J. Schenk, Tracey J. Mercier, Phuong A. Le, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller

Methodology for defining and compiling abandoned and active hydrocarbon well inventories

Hydrocarbon wells are not active forever; when they become permanently disused (abandoned), well infrastructure must be remediated or repurposed. Knowing which wells are abandoned is the initial and often complicated step in taking responsibility for well infrastructure. Each State creates laws and regulates hydrocarbon operations, which includes well abandonment. The existence of...
Authors
Brian A. Varela, Marc L. Buursink

Science

USGS Technical Transfer for Department of Defense Installations in the Sagebrush Biome

The USGS has initiated a new collaboration effort with Department of Defense (DoD) in the sagebrush biome. The goal of this effort is to establish a network with DoD resource managers to define pervasive natural resource issues facing DoD installations and to identify existing innovative USGS science and tools that support DoD resource managers. Through this effort, the USGS will provide subject...
link

USGS Technical Transfer for Department of Defense Installations in the Sagebrush Biome

The USGS has initiated a new collaboration effort with Department of Defense (DoD) in the sagebrush biome. The goal of this effort is to establish a network with DoD resource managers to define pervasive natural resource issues facing DoD installations and to identify existing innovative USGS science and tools that support DoD resource managers. Through this effort, the USGS will provide subject...
Learn More

Monitoring Changes in Groundwater Quality at Jackson Hole Airport

USGS studies revealed that aircraft deicing fluids from Jackson Hole Airport negatively affected the water quality of the Snake River aquifer in northwestern Wyoming (Wright, 2013). In response, the airport implemented improved deicing management and infrastructure. A recent USGS study determined that the airport’s changes likely contributed to improvements in aquifer groundwater quality (Wright...
link

Monitoring Changes in Groundwater Quality at Jackson Hole Airport

USGS studies revealed that aircraft deicing fluids from Jackson Hole Airport negatively affected the water quality of the Snake River aquifer in northwestern Wyoming (Wright, 2013). In response, the airport implemented improved deicing management and infrastructure. A recent USGS study determined that the airport’s changes likely contributed to improvements in aquifer groundwater quality (Wright...
Learn More

Economic Implications of Sagebrush Treatment and Restoration Practices Across the Great Basin and Wyoming

USGS and Colorado State University researchers are conducting analyses and predictions of sagebrush recovery in the Great Basin and Wyoming and assess the role of weather, soils, and reseeding treatments.
link

Economic Implications of Sagebrush Treatment and Restoration Practices Across the Great Basin and Wyoming

USGS and Colorado State University researchers are conducting analyses and predictions of sagebrush recovery in the Great Basin and Wyoming and assess the role of weather, soils, and reseeding treatments.
Learn More
Was this page helpful?