The Western Geographic Science Center conducts research to help communities make decisions about the interaction between people and their environment. We conduct geographic research on the environmental and societal consequences of a changing landscape.

Our projects analyze human / environmental interactions spatially and temporally. Our work is collaborative, involving many partners and linking many different natural science and social science disciplines. Our work is concentrated in the 9 states of the USGS Western Region and is conducted on local and regional scales.

Find out more about our science by following the links on the left.

Featured Science

Land Change in the Western United States 1973-2000 :

The First Professional Paper describing results from the Land Cover Trends project has been completed. It covers 30 ecological regions in the Western United States and is the most detailed and comprehensive assessment of the rates and types of land-use and land-cover change ever produced for the region. This Professional Paper represents the culmination of many years of hard work from a great number of USGS staff and represents a significant contribution to our understanding of land change dynamics in the U.S.

Reports covering the Great Plains, Midwest, and Eastern U.S. are currently underway and should follow soon.

Click here or on the image of the report cover to see the report.

For more information contact Tamara S. Wilson at 650-329-4247.

Note: Some documents are in a PDF format, you will need Adobe Reader to view them.