Department of Agriculture (USDA)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) develops and executes policy on farming, agriculture and food. Its aims include meeting the needs of farmers and ranchers, promoting agricultural trade and production, assuring food safety, protecting natural resources, fostering rural communities and ending hunger in America and abroad.
- Agricultural Research Service (ARS): The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the USDA’s chief scientific in-house research agency. ARS works to ensure that Americans have reliable, adequate supplies of high-quality food and other agricultural products. ARS accomplishes its goals through scientific discoveries that help solve problems in crop and livestock production and protection, human nutrition and the interaction of agriculture and the environment.
- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) – Plains Area: The Plains Area is one of five administrative regions under the USDA’s ARS, and is home to 42% of the Nation’s rangeland, one-third of its cropland, 13% of its surface water, and the largest wildlife habitats of any region in the lower 48 states. This is in addition to the area’s approximately $34 billion annual crop and livestock value. To sustain and enhance this agricultural productivity and natural resources, ARS scientists at 22 locations in the 10-state Plains Area conduct research on bioenergy, global climate change, human nutrition, water management, sustainable agriculture, soil management, crop protection, animal health, food animal production, food safety, manure and byproduct utilization, plant biology, plant diseases, plant genetics, rangelands, crop production, air quality and veterinary entomology.
- Economic Research Service (ERS): The Economic Research Service (ERS) is a primary source of economic information and research in the USDA, and is responsible for informing and enhancing public and private decision making on economic and policy issues related to agriculture, food, the environment and rural development.
- Economic Research Service (ERS) – Resource & Rural Economics Division (RRED): The Resource and Rural Economics Division of the Economic Research Service (ERS) conducts research in three main areas: the interactions among natural resources, environmental quality and agricultural production and consumption; the economics of agricultural research and development and technological change; and the structure and financial performance of the agricultural sector and the rural economy.
- Farm Service Agency (FSA): The Farm Service Agency (FSA) administers farm commodity, crop insurance, credit, environmental, conservation and emergency assistance programs for farmers and ranchers.
- Farm Service Agency (FSA) – Colorado: The Colorado Farm Service Agency (FSA) assists Colorado farmers and ranchers in securing the greatest possible benefit from programs administered by FSA, such as farm loans, commodity programs, disaster relief, conservation and other available resources.
- Forest Service (FS or USFS): The Forest Service (FS) administers programs for applying sound conservation and utilization practices to natural resources of the national forests and national grasslands, for promoting these practices on all forest lands through cooperation with states and private landowners, and for carrying out extensive forest and range research.
- Forest Service (FS or USFS) – Rocky Mountain Region (Region 2): The Rocky Mountain Region (Region 2) manages resources and activities across more than 22 million acres of forest and grassland in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. A forest supervisor leads each of the 11 National Forest and Grassland units, which are divided into ranger districts. The Rocky Mountain Region has formally identified three overarching themes as emphasis areas on which to focus strategic long-term efforts to preserve their special values: Forest and Grassland Health, Recreation and Water.
- National Agricultural Library (NAL): The National Agricultural Library (NAL) provides technical information on agricultural research and related subjects to scientists, educators and farmers using computer databases; coordinates and is primary resource for national network of state land grant university and field libraries; and serves as the U.S. center for the international agriculture information system. Major topics of resource materials found in the NAL include agricultural law, animals and livestock, education and outreach, farms and farming systems, food and human nutrition, marketing and trade, natural resources and environment, plants and crops, research and technology, rural development, and visual arts and agricultural history.
- Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS): The National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) is the primary federal agency that works with private landowners to help them conserve, maintain and improve their natural resources. The Agency emphasizes voluntary, science-based conservation; technical assistance; partnerships; incentive-based programs; and cooperative problem solving at the community level. A few of their programs and services include Conservation Innovation Grants, the Conservation Stewardship Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Emergency Watershed Protection Program, an array of Technical Resources and Snow and Soil Surveys.
- National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) – Colorado: NRCS Colorado soil conservationists, soil scientists, agronomists, ecologists, engineers, planners and other specialists promote land stewardship by providing technical assistance through teams to address surface and groundwater quality; wetlands, riparian areas, and biodiversity; aquatic and terrestrial habitat; and impacts of land use changes. NRCS teams work on all of Colorado’s vast landscapes in partnership with the American people to conserve natural resources on private lands.
Department of Commerce (DOC)
The Department of Commerce (DOC) is the government agency tasked with improving living standards for all Americans by promoting economic development and technological innovation. The department supports U.S. business and industry through a number of services, including gathering economic and demographic data, issuing patents and trademarks, improving understanding of the environment and oceanic life and ensuring the effective use of scientific and technical resources. The agency also formulates telecommunications and technology policy, and promotes U.S. exports by assisting and enforcing international trade agreements.
- National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is America’s environmental intelligence agency, providing timely, reliable and actionable information—based on sound science—every day to millions of Americans. NOAA’s products and services are used by decision makers around the country to better understand risk and prepare for the future.
Department of Defense (DOD)
The Department of Defense (DOD) manages an inventory of national security installations and facilities, as well as provide military forces needed to deter war and to protect the security of the United States.
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE or Corps): As the nation’s environmental engineer, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE or Corps) manages one of the largest federal environmental missions: restoring degraded ecosystems; constructing sustainable facilities; regulating waterways; managing natural resources; and, cleaning up contaminated sites from past military activities.
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE or Corps) – Northwest Division: The Northwestern Division is nearly 2,000 miles wide, enveloping all or part of 14 states (WA, OR, ID, MT, WY, CO, ND, SD, NE, KS, MO, IA, and MN), 65 Congressional districts and 107 sovereign tribal nations. It is organized to manage its districts’ civil works activities based on river basins, and the primary civil works missions encompass flood control, navigation, hydropower, fish and wildlife, water quality and irrigation, recreation, and disaster response. Military boundaries are organized along state lines, and major military programs include providing design and construction support to key Army and Air Force installations and managing almost two million acres of military real estate for the DOD. An environmental restoration program oversees cleanup of hazardous, toxic and radioactive sites for the military, the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies.
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE or Corps) – South Pacific Division: The South Pacific Division contains all or part of 10 states (CA, AZ, NV, NM, CO, OR, ID, WY and TX) and 170 Native American Nations within its boundaries. The civil works program is oriented around major regional watersheds and leverages federal resources for navigation, flood damage reduction and ecosystem restoration. There are more than 300 threatened and endangered species in the region, and the Division issues regulatory permits under the Clean Water Act for development in the nation’s waters and wetlands, balancing environmental stewardship with the need for economic and urban growth.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for preventing and disrupting terrorist attacks; protecting the American people, our critical infrastructure and key resources; and responding to and recovering from incidents that do occur.
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is responsible for reducing the loss of life and property and protecting communities nationwide from all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism and other man-made disasters. FEMA leads and supports the nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery and mitigation.
- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) – Region VIII: FEMA’s Region VIII works in partnership with the emergency management agencies of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters. Region VIII’s most common challenges are flooding, severe storms, tornadoes and winter storms.
Department of the Interior (DOI)
The Department of the Interior (DOI) is the nation’s principal conservation agency. Its mission is to protect America’s natural resources, offer recreation opportunities, conduct scientific research, conserve and protect fish and wildlife, and honor our trust responsibilities to American Indians, Alaskan Natives, and our responsibilities to island communities.
- Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA): The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) provides services directly or through contracts, grants or compacts to 566 federally recognized tribes with a service population of about 1.9 million American Indian and Alaska Natives. While the role of Indian Affairs has changed significantly in the last three decades in response to a greater emphasis on Indian self-governance and self-determination, Tribes still look to Indian Affairs for a broad spectrum of services, including but not limited to: an education system, social services, natural resources management on trust lands, economic development programs, administration of tribal courts, implementation of land and water claim settlements, and operation of a series irrigation systems. Delivery of program services is administered by the twelve regional offices and 83 agencies.
- Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) – Southwest Region: The Southwest Region of the BIA includes all of Colorado and the majority of New Mexico, with the exception of northwest Mexico where the Navajo Region resides. The Regional Director represents the Southwest Region in dealing with other governmental and tribal entities, and is charged with the responsibility to work toward strengthening intergovernmental assistance to all the Federally-recognized tribes within the region.
- Bureau of Land Management (BLM): The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages public land resources for a wide variety of uses, while protecting a wide array of natural, cultural and historical resources. It administers more public land – over 245 million surface acres – than any other Federal agency in the United States. Most of this land is located in the 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also manages 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation.
- Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – Colorado: BLM Colorado manages 8.4 million acres of public lands and 29 million acres of subsurface mineral estate in Colorado. BLM also administrates about 310 buildings located on 44 administrative sites and 11 recreation sites, and is responsible for maintaining a transportation system consisting of about 4,000 miles of roads, 1,215 miles of trails and 20 bridges.
- Bureau of Reclamation (BOR or USBR): The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR or USBR) is a contemporary water management agency with a Strategic Plan outlining numerous programs, initiatives and activities that will help the Western States, Native American Tribes and others meet new water needs and balance competing uses of water in the West. Their mission is to assist in meeting the increasing water demands of the West while protecting the environment and the public’s investment in those structures. For administrative support, the 17 Bureau of Reclamation states were divided into regions with each tasked with project planning, public and water-user relations, and supervision of project operation and maintenance. Additionally, regional offices also negotiate power contracts in accord with the policies of the Interior Department’s Power Division, coordination of construction projects with other Reclamation operations, and general administration of regional and project organizations and programs.
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR or USBR) – Great Plains: The Great Plains Region is the largest and most ecologically diverse region in Reclamation, encompassing all or parts of nine western states and extending from the Canadian border to the southern tip of Texas. States within this region include all of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma, the majority of Montana, Wyoming and Texas, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide.
- U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (BOR or USBR) – Upper Colorado Region: The Upper Colorado Region includes the majority of Utah and New Mexico, southwest Wyoming, Colorado west of the Continental Divide, Texas west of the Pecos River and small portions of northeast Arizona and western Nevada.
- National Park Service (NPS): The National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for preserving the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park System covers more than 84 million acres and is comprised of 409 sites with 28 different designations. These include 128 historical parks or sites, 78 national monuments, 59 national parks, 25 battlefields or military parks, 19 preserves, 18 recreation areas, 10 seashores, four parkways, four lakeshores and two reserves.
- National Park Service (NPS) – Intermountain Region: The Intermountain Region oversees documentation of structures and sites recorded in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
- Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement (OSMRE): The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is responsible for establishing a nationwide program to protect society and the environment from the adverse effects of surface coal mining operations, under which OSMRE is charged with balancing the nation’s need for continued domestic coal production with protection of the environment. OSMRE is also responsible for reclaiming and restoring lands and water degraded by mining operations before 1977, overseeing state mining and cleanup programs and developing new tools to help states move towards completion, as well as furthering the science of reclaiming mined lands and protecting the environment.
- Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement (OSMRE) – Western Region: The Western Region performs an oversight role for states in the region that have primacy and regulate surface coal mining activities and reclamation on lands within their jurisdiction. The Western Region has primacy for surface coal mining activities and reclamation that occur on Indian and Federal Lands in the west, as well as the state of Washington. States within this region include Alaska, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS): The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) works towards to the conservation, protection and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The agency is responsible for enforcing federal wildlife laws, protecting endangered species, managing migratory birds, restoring nationally significant fisheries, conserving and restoring wildlife habitat such as wetlands, helping foreign governments with their international conservation efforts, and Distributing hundreds of millions of dollars, through our Wildlife Sport Fish and Restoration program, in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to State fish and wildlife agencies.
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) – Mountain-Prairie Region: The Mountain-Prairie Region consists of 8 states in the heart of the American West, including Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming, and is defined by three distinct landscapes: the central and northern Great Plains to the east, the Rocky Mountains and intermountain areas beyond the Continental Divide to the west, and millions of shallow wetlands known as the “prairie potholes” in the northeastern portion of the region.
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is the Nation’s largest water, earth and biological science and civilian mapping agency, and it collects, monitors, analyzes and provides scientific understanding about natural resource conditions, issues and problems.
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – Water Resources of the United States: Water is one of six science mission areas of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Water’s mission is to collect and disseminate reliable, impartial, and timely information that is needed to understand the Nation’s water resources.
- USGS Colorado Water Science Center: The USGS conducts its water-resources activities in Colorado in formal partnerships with more than 100 other organizations representing all levels of government. The USGS Colorado Water Science Center operates statewide data-collection networks for streamflow, water quality and groundwater levels, and is also conducting studies that are helping to address many specific issues of concern to Colorado water-management entities and citizens, such as the sustainability of adequate, good-quality water supplies for various uses, the effects of energy development on water resources, and environmental hazards (drought, wildfires, floods), to name a few.
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) – Water Resources of the United States: Water is one of six science mission areas of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Water’s mission is to collect and disseminate reliable, impartial, and timely information that is needed to understand the Nation’s water resources.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency established to coordinate programs aimed at protecting human health and the environment. The EPA’s primary responsibilities include developing and enforcing environmental regulations, sponsoring and conducting research, sponsor partnerships, publish information and providing educational materials about the environment to the public.
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – Region 8: Region 8 works to protect human health and the environment in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 27 sovereign tribal nations.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency tasked with keeping the U.S. at the leading edge of discovery in a wide range of scientific areas, from astronomy to geology to zoology. In addition to funding research in the traditional academic areas, the agency also supports “high risk, high pay off” ideas, novel collaborations and numerous projects that may seem like science fiction today, but which the public will take for granted tomorrow.