The USGS provides many national, regional and local datasets for download, streaming interaction such as WFS/WCS, and analysis. Ultimately, most datasets are presented for visualization in "viewers" with basic navigation and interaction for inspection and even lightweight WebGIS like web service functions, annotations, etc. Many viewers–different APIs, clients, purposes, and niche functions–are invested in at USGS and DOI and the whole Federal Government. The solution is not "1 viewer" or "1 viewer API" - see the "Viewer Explosion Conundrum" below. We are stuck in a multiple viewer environment, we could recommend a few APIs, and restrict others at best. The problem with this is that when someone goes to a new viewer,...
