US landslide losses have been estimated at $3 billion annually and are increasing. Losses occur in every state and involve federal, state and private lands. Following the El Nino winter of 1997-98, efforts to compile National landslide damage loss were frustrated by the fact that very few parties had collected systematic records of these costs. Furthermore, insurance companies do not generally insure against landslide losses, therefore data are not available from these sources. In response to this information deficit, USGS facilitated the collaboration of seven State surveys in a pilot project to compile landslide cost information and develop a nationally usable methodology for this purpose. Future compilation of these data will allow quantitative correlations of losses over periods of time or with meteorological conditions. Such analyses are not now possible.

To meet the need for landslide hazard information, in 1999, the U.S. Congress directed the USGS to develop a comprehensive plan to address landslide hazards, and to include all parties involved in landslide hazard investigations. The USGS and the Association of American State Geologists worked with other public and private sector groups to develop a report entitled, “National Landslide Hazards Mitigation Strategy: A Framework for Loss Reduction” (USGS Open-File Report 00-450), which was published in 2000. This NLHMS provides an opportunity for State and Federal governments to more fully meet their responsibilities for landslide hazard assessment. A committee of the National Research Council is currently reviewing the Strategy, and recently released an Interim Report, which states: “The committee considers that the USGS proposal is both timely and conceptually sound in broad outline, and agrees that the emphasis on partnerships is appropriate and necessary.”

With recent advances in landslide dynamics, monitoring, mapping, and geo-spatial data processing, the Earth science and meteorological communities are positioned to help address this costly public policy issue. To be effective, scientific applications must be linked to land-use and economic decisions. A combination of the efforts of the USGS, State surveys, and private and university investigators, as envisioned in the NLHS, will advance this important effort.