The Idaho Geologic Survey (IGS) presented its FY2026 budget and asked the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee to provide additional general-fund support for a database manager position that has been historically grant-funded.

Analyst Kevin Campbell said IGS employs roughly 12.47 authorized full-time equivalents and that much of the survey’s work — collecting, interpreting and publishing geologic and mineral data for Idaho — is posted on the agency website. Director Claudio Berti, the state geologist, told the committee the database manager position has been supported with grants and with abandoned mine lands funds that provide federal matching; those revenue streams are uncertain and the office sought stable funding to avoid losing core capabilities.

Berti said the position is “fundamental to our agency” and that losing it would be “catastrophic” because the manager helps match federal grants at a 2:1 rate and facilitates work that generates additional supported positions. He said IGS has used grant and Department of Lands funds for the role and that the grant funding is running out; the request seeks partial general-fund support to make the role permanent.

Berti also described IGS’s work in supporting exploration and noted the agency’s data-preservation program. He said Idaho lacks a physical repository for core samples and other physical materials generated by exploration, and he urged the state to consider investing in a repository so that historical drilling, geochemical and geophysical data can be preserved and leveraged by future exploration and permitting. He said data held in public repositories reduces duplicative permitting, lowers industry costs and preserves information needed for responsible resource development.

Why it matters: IGS staff argued that a permanent database manager improves the state’s ability to secure and match federal grants and preserves geologic data that support infrastructure, water, energy and mineral resource decisions.

Committee discussion included questions about how long the position has been grant-funded and whether future grants could continue to support the role; Berti said the position has historically been grant-funded but that placing it on unstable grant support leaves the survey vulnerable.

Ending: Berti committed to providing additional materials and said IGS will continue partnerships with other research centers to develop economic-impact studies and a possible physical repository for core and sample preservation.