🚀 go-pugleaf

  National Biological Service (NBS) 
  
   It is my understanding that Newt's boys will almost certainly
   defund the NBS.  They are also now working on gutting the
   endangered species act.  So much for science. --Doug

  Subj: NBS -- Twenty FAQs (about 250 lines) (fwd)

Reposted from BENE
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          National Biological Service (NBS)     10 January 1995
          
          The Twenty Most Frequently Asked Questions About NBS
          
          1.   WHAT IS THE NATIONAL BIOLOGICAL SERVICE?
          
          The National Biological Service is the Department of Interior's 
          newest bureau, created in November, 1993, by consolidating some 
          of the biological research, inventory and monitoring, and 
          information transfer programs of seven Interior bureaus: the U.S. 
          Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land 
          Management, Minerals Management Service, U.S. Geological Survey, 
          Bureau of Reclamation, and the Office of Surface Mining.  
          
          The mission of the NBS is to work with others to provide the 
          scientific understanding and technologies needed to support the 
          sound management and conservation of our Nation's biological 
          resources.
          
          2.   WHY DID YOU CHANGE YOUR NAME?
          
          The name, "the National Biological Service" more accurately 
          reflects the mission and function of this new agency than the 
          National Biological "Survey."  Inventory and monitoring (i.e. 
          "survey") is an important, but small part (less than 15%) of what 
          the NBS does.  Overall, the NBS provides service to the 
          Department of the Interior and others in the form of reliable 
          scientific research, information and technology transfer.
          
          3.   ISN'T IT TRUE THAT NBS's REAL MISSION IS TO FIND NEW   
          LISTINGS FOR THE ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST?
          
          No, in fact the mission of NBS is exactly the opposite: our aim 
          through our status and trends research is to identify future 
          potential problems in time to take action to prevent species from 
          becoming endangered.  As Secretary Babbitt says, we want to avoid 
          future "environmental train wrecks."  We intend to identify 
          declining species and troubled ecosystems before they require 
          protection under the Act. Also, by studying and inventorying 
          populations of "candidate" species--those pegged for possible 
          addition to the Endangered Species listing process--we may be 
          able to provide the additional information needed to actually 
          _avoid_ the listing of some of these species.
          
          4.   DOES NBS HAVE THE POWER TO REGULATE HOW I CAN USE MY        
          LAND?
          
          NBS is a non-regulatory, non-managerial and non-advocacy science 
          agency.  Our aim is to make the best possible scientific 
          information available to resource managers, landowners, and the 
          public.  We will not make recommendations.  Our scientists and 
          biologists will provide unbiased, factual scientific information 
          to Federal agencies, State, and non-profit research institutions, 
          landowners, businesses, industry and private citizens.  
          Regulatory and management decisions will be made elsewhere in the 
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          government and in the private sector.
          
          5.   WHO WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION YOU PULL TOGETHER?
          
          NBS research and information will be in the public domain, and 
          will be made available to anyone who needs it.  It will be 
          available through the National Biological Information 
          Infrastructure (NBII), accessible through the Internet.  The 
          Interior Department's experience with the national wetlands 
          inventory maps has been that builders and developers--business 
          and industry--are the greatest users of that information.  We 
          anticipate that NBS data will be as useful for landowner 
          management decisions as it is for conservation purposes.  Anybody 
          may challenge any information the NBS has.  We are a credible 
          scientific organization using peer-review to affirm the accuracy 
          of our methods and data.
          
          6.   WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM TO PAY FOR NBS?  WHO PAYS    
          YOU? AND HOW MANY EMPLOYEES DO YOU HAVE?
          
          Our budget of $167 million (FY 1994) is based on funds originally 
          transferred into NBS from the seven bureaus at Interior.  Almost 
          all of our 1,950 positions have come from the same seven bureaus.  
          In addition to headquarters in Washington, we will have 4 
          Regional Offices, 16 Science Centers, 60 Cooperative Research 
          Units, and 88 field stations.
          
          7.   DO YOU USE VOLUNTEERS TO COLLECT DATA?
          
          Volunteers assist only those authorized programs supporting the 
          missions of bureaus that were parents of the NBS.  In all cases 
          the volunteers are carefully trained first, then supervised by a 
          federal employee while they work.  In addition, their data are 
          quality-control checked by NBS supervisors.  Volunteers must 
          abide by the same rules, regulations, policies and laws as NBS 
          employees.
          
          8.   WHAT IS THE NBS POLICY ABOUT COMING ONTO PRIVATE PROPERTY TO 
          DO YOUR STUDIES?
          
          When conducting studies on private property, NBS researchers 
          comply with State and Tribal laws, including trespass and privacy 
          laws.  NBS researchers are required to obtain written permission 
          from the landowner when conducting new surveys, not to trespass, 
          and, at the landowner's request, to make the data available at no 
          cost.
          
          9.   HAS LEGISLATION BEEN PASSED AUTHORIZING THE CREATION OF     
          THE NBS?
          
          The Secretary has full authority to reorganize the Department and 
          create the NBS (Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1950, 64 Stat. 
          1262).  The NBS will continue to seek organic legislation to 
          permanently establish the NBS.  The House of Representatives 
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          passed H. R. 1845 in October 1993.  In the meantime, both houses 
          of Congress have effectively authorized NBS by appropriating the 
          necessary monies to run the bureau.
          


  Subj: 02/NBS -- Twenty FAQs (about 250 lines) (fwd)
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          National Biological Service (NBS)     10 January 1995
          
          The Twenty Most Frequently Asked Questions About NBS
==============          
          
          10.  WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY "AN NBS PARTNERSHIP WITH THE STATES"?
          
          Secretary Babbitt invited all the governors and Tribal 
          governments to join NBS in individually crafted partnerships to 
          share biological data.  Through these partnerships, NBS and 
          States jointly determine the scope and urgency of projects, 
          assess the level of technical assistance needed, and determine 
          where this should come from.  Several States have signed 
          Memorandums of Understanding with the NBS to formalize such 
          partnerships.  Projects are underway in Arizona, California, 
          Maryland, North Carolina, and Illinois that are enhancing the 
          State and NBS capacity to jointly conduct research and 
          computerize and communicate information.
          
          11.  WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF NBS TO INDUSTRY?
          
          NBS welcomes partnerships with industry as well.  In fact, NBS 
          works in cooperation with many private corporations, including 
          the International Paper Company to survey and study the Wherry's 
          pitcher plant, the white-topped pitcher plant and the Henslow 
          sparrow, and provide information which can be used to manage the 
          company's Alabama timberland to ensure continuing vitality of 
          harvests while conserving habitat critical to the survival of 
          these species.  In addition, NBS just signed an agreement with 
          the Champion International Paper Company, to assist with a 
          biological assessment of a 6700 acre tract of Champion owned land 
          in Eastern Tennessee.
          
          12.  HOW DOES NBS BENEFIT INDUSTRY?
          
          This differs by industry sector, but to give you a few examples, 
          we work with the agriculture and ranching industry on the problem 
          of noxious weeds, wildlife and soil conservation techniques, 
          integrated pest management, and have provided information in 
          support of aquaculture.
          
          Potentially, the industry which may benefit the most from knowing 
          where rare plants can be found is the pharmaceutical industry.  
          New drugs are constantly being developed from both rare and 
          common plants, in this country and elsewhere.
          
          13.  WHAT IS THE NATURE CONSERVANCY AGREEMENT?
          
          Secretary Babbitt signed an agreement with The Nature Conservancy 
          (TNC) in December 1993, to work cooperatively in a number of 
          areas, particularly in sharing data collected over many years as 
          part of the TNC's Heritage Program in the States.
          
          14.  WHERE ELSE DO YOU ANTICIPATE GETTING INFORMATION?
          
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          We expect to exchange information with state fish and game 
          offices, universities, research laboratories, individual 
          researchers, and local libraries and museums.  This information 
          will be shared through a distributed data network, the National 
          Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII).
          
          15.  WHAT IS GAP ANALYSIS AND HOW MANY STATES HAVE IT?
          
>         The GAP Analysis Project uses satellite imagery to map the 
          distribution of vegetation communities, species distribution, and 
          land use.  GAP analysis will be underway or complete in 36 states 
          during 1994.  Maps are now being produced for publication in 
          Arizona, California, Utah, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, 
          Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.
          
          16.  WHAT IS THE BREEDING BIRD SURVEY?
          
          The Breeding Bird Survey is a cooperative effort using over 2,000 
          skilled amateur and professional ornithologists to collect 
          information on the North American bird population.  This program 
          was transferred to NBS from the Fish and Wildlife Service, and 
          the data enables us to measure bird population changes.
          
          17.  WHAT IS A COOP UNIT?
          
          In thirty nine States the NBS has formal cooperative 
          relationships with States and universities where by research, 
          technical assistance and teaching projects beneficial to all 
          partners are undertaken at the host university.
          
          18.  WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE NBS SCIENCE COUNCIL?  WHAT IS THE 
          ROLE OF THE POLICY BOARD?
          
          The Science Council will be made up of representatives from 
          federal agencies, State agencies, professional societies and 
          nongovernmental non-profit and research organizations.  It will 
          coordinate with entities outside of Interior and will offer 
          suggestions about science trends and needs to NBS.
          
          The Policy Board consists of senior representatives from all 
          Interior Bureaus.  It offers guidance on research priorities for 
          NBS so that data useful for resource managers can be obtained.
          
          19.  CAN YOU ASSURE ME THAT THE INFORMATION YOU GATHER WON'T     
          BE USED BY SOME OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY TO TAKE MY PROPERTY OR 
          REGULATE ME IN SOME OTHER WAY?
          The information we gather will be available to everyone: 
          government officials and private citizens.  We cannot guarantee 
          that it won't be used in a regulatory decision.  What we can 
          guarantee is that the information will be accurate, timely and 
          unbiased.  Accurate and sufficient scientific information should 
          produce fair decisions. 
          
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          20.  HOW CAN I, AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN, ACCESS NBS DATA?
          
          NBS information is public information and in almost all cases, is 
          available by request.  (Limited exceptions exist that protect the 
          interests of property owners and to protect sensitive species).  
          In addition, information about a wide range of geographical areas 
          and species will be available to you through NBS, which can help 
          you locate and gain access to information in Federal, State, and 
          private institutions.  Much of this information will also be 
          available through Internet.
          
                                          
          
          [Additional information about NBS may be found, for those with 
          Worldwide Web (WWW) access, at the NBS server, URL  
          http://www.its.nbs.gov/nbs/  .  Or try:
          
          U.S. Department of the Interior
          National Biological Service
          Office of Public Affairs
          1849 C Street, NW
          Washington, D.C. 20240
          1-202-482-3048 VOICE
          1-202-208-6445 FAX]
          
          [Transcribed by Steve Young from NBS paper fact sheet; he is 
          responsible for any errors.]  


... gingrich: georgia6@hr.house.gov   limbaugh: 70277.2502@compuserve.com