Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That the governor is hereby authorized and directed to nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to appoint a competent person, whose duty it shall be to make an accurate and complete geological survey of this State, which shall be accompanied with proper maps and diagrams, and furnish a full and scientific description of its rocks, soils, minerals, and of its botanical and geological productions, together with specimens of the same; which maps, diagrams, and specimens shall be deposited in the State library, and similar specimens shall be deposited in such literary and scientific institutions as the governor shall direct; and the governor is further authorized to appoint, from time to time, as the exigencies of the case may require, competent persons to act as assistants under the directions of the geologist.

The geologist appointed under the provisions of this act shall make a report annually to the legislature, on the first Monday of January, in each year, setting forth generally the progress made in the survey hereby authorized.

On that same day, a bill was introduced and approved in the state legislature to conduct a geological survey of Michigan.

[3] Lesser reasons were to help dispel negative beliefs about the state[2] and to investigate copper resources in the Upper Peninsula.

After this incident the survey was suspended, although Houghton's assistant and another surveyor continued to map the mineralogical deposits on the south shore of Lake Superior.

[7] In the late 1850s, the Michigan Legislature received petitions from various interests to further investigate the state's salt resources, leading to the establishment of a second geological survey on February 15, 1859.

[7][8] Winchell spent much of his time from 1859 through 1862 conducting field work that culminated in a single comprehensive report.

In response, the Board contracted independent surveys of the Marquette Iron Range and the Copper Country.

Rominger worked "practically alone" from 1872 through 1876, focusing primarily on investigating fossil corals and elucidating the geologic structure of the Michigan Basin in the Lower Peninsula.

He primarily engaged in the drawing of topographical maps and sketches of the geologic phenomena of the Upper Peninsula.

In 1893, Wadsworth became aware of these intentions, and offered to resign from the Michigan Mining School if he were given a raise to $4,000 per year.

During his tenure, the legislature reinstated funding for zoological and biological studies, and the first topographical survey was commenced.

[11] In 1909, Lane resigned to accept a professorship at Tufts College, and was succeeded by Roland C. Allen in September.

The survey significantly reduced its activities during World War I due to a lack of funding and workers, but continued its topographical research, resulting in the relocation and marking of the Ohio-Michigan border.

[19] In 2010, Fitch began discussions with Western Michigan University (WMU) to assume the non-regulatory functions of the survey.

[20] Funding cuts were restricting the survey's ability to perform any non-regulatory duties, so a transfer to a different institution would permit their accomplishment.