The USGS identified 6 strategic goals for the coming decade in an article published this week in Science magazine (http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/318/5848/200).
They include:
1. Understanding ecosystems and predicting ecosystem change
2. Climate variability and change
3. Energy and minerals for America's future
4. National hazards risk and resilience assessment program
5. The role of environment and wildlife in human health
6. A water census for the United States
The full report on the USGS plan is published in
USGS, "Facing tomorrow's challenges: U.S. Geological Survey science in the decade 2007-2017" (Circular 1309, USGS, Reston, VA, version 1.0, April 2007); available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2007/1309/.