[3] “In prying apart the stone layers of the rocks, the scientist is, in reality, opening the leaves of the past history of our world.” Thomas Condon, 1902.

All of this is made available to the public at the Nature of the Northwest Information Center at the state office building in Portland, Oregon .

In the Pacific Northwest, natural geologic catastrophes may be placed into five categories: floods, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and tsunamis.

An Exploration Permit is required for operations that disturb more than one surface acre or involves drilling to greater than 50 feet.

To obtain a permit to drill an oil or gas well, the following items must be submitted to the Department of Geology's Mineral Land Regulation & Reclamation office: The application is reviewed for completeness and then proposed permit conditions are sent, with the application materials, to the other natural resource agencies for their review.