A Biological Survey for the Nation (1994) / Chapter Skim
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4 COORDINATION OF THE NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR BIOLOGICAL SURVEY
4 COORDINATION OF THE NATIONAL PARTNERSHIP FOR BIOLOGICAL SURVEY
Pages 123-150
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From page 123... ...
The National Biological Survey being established within the Department of the Interior has a broad range of responsibilities, but it cannot by itself come close to meeting the full range of needs and objectives in scientific research, inventory, and information management described in the preceding chapters. The committee has concluded that the management of the National 123
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From page 124... ...
In fact, Partners In Flight is only one of many existing national collaborative efforts that will participate in the NPBS. The increasing interest in regional management systemswhich take into account not only the requirements for survival of individual endangered species, but also the future of the ecosystems that sustain them and many others and add that amenity to human lives-will require increasingly complex cooperative arrangements.
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From page 125... ...
regional strategy will be complicated by the dispersion of management authority for different kincis of organisms, habitats, and water resources over fecleral, state, and county agencies (see Box 2.3 for an examples. ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF NBS The National Biological Survey should assist in enabling DO} to meet the diverse mandates of its bureaus, inclucling setting priorities for acquisition of lands.
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From page 126... ...
The first is to develop and implement adequate monitonug, analytical, and research programs to assess the needs of birds and their habitats; and the second is to implement active land management first on federal lands and then through partnerships with private landowners that control even larger areas of the continent. International programs are aided through direct involvement by Canadian agencies and entities and through the Western Hemisphere program of FWS working with Latin American countries.
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From page 127... ...
Participants meet as peers to design effective, scientifically credible conservation plans and have produced a priority list of species, lists of research priorities on a regional basis, and a needs assessment for monitoring with protocols for standardized procedures for expanding scope and coverage. Programs eventually will address land m~anagement by various agencies to benefit neotropical birds.
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From page 128... ...
will create a tension with the goal of serving as the core agency for the National Partnership. There will be some creative tension between the desire to pursue new scientific inquiries about biological resources and the need to conduct studies that are focused specifically on current management needs.
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From page 129... ...
A cadre of experienced scientists should work with other participants in the National Partnership to identify information needs and stimulate programs that will satisfy those needs and provide leadership. The fundamental purpose of the NBS is to provide a rational and objective scientific basis for meaningful stewardship of the nation's biological resources.
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From page 130... ...
In addition, through a cooperative arrangement with the Tenth Census, mineral statistics were collected in the eastern states, iron resources in all parts of the country were systematically studied in the field and in the laboratory by a variety of techniques, and an effort was made to trace the continuation of the copper-bearing rocks of Michigan and Wisconsin through northeast Minnesota to the Canada boundary. There investigations in general geology included the unfinished studies of the earlier surveys in the Colorado Plateau region, on the Quaternary history of valleys in Utah, and on the geology of the Rocky Mountain region north of New Mexico and west of the 94th meridian.
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From page 131... ...
The chemical laboratory, mining statistics, preparation of illustrations, and the library were "accessory divisions. Without benefit of formal organization, the geological survey was also investigating the irrigation of arid lands, the relief from floods that would be afforded the lower valley of the Mississippi by using waters from the Rocky Mountains for irrigation, and the geographic distribution of the great forest areas.
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From page 132... ...
Effective coordination mechanisms will
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From page 133... ...
National Wildlife Refuges and National Manne Sanctuaries are encompassed primarily within state boundaries, as are national parks, Indian reservations, and many reclamation projects. Most national forests lie within state boundaries, as do most military reservations.
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From page 134... ...
-, The above conclusions, along with findings described in earlier chapters, have led the committee to believe that an effective coordination mechanism is required. Because the scope of the activities of the National Partnership are quite broad, and because of the extensive amount of intergovernmental and nongovernmental coordination, the committee believes that no existing model for national and federal coordination is readily adaptable to the National Partnership for Biological Survey.
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From page 135... ...
The most logical alternative focus, the Executive Office of the President (EOP) , was rejected by the committee for four reasons: First, the committee believes that an agency with mission responsibility related to the nation's biological resources would be able to focus more effectively on the needs of the Partnership than can the EOP with its myriad resnonsibilii~es and need to respond to shifting issues.
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From page 136... ...
A top-down, centralized approach is unlikely to engender the full and enthusiastic cooperation of all critical participants. Coordination will best be achieved through leadership, consensus-building, and positive incentives, such as funding for interagency collaborative activities, state programs, and extramural research, provision for personnel exchange, the development of a strong sense of shared mission, and unequivocal support from key leaders throughout the participating community.
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From page 137... ...
An effective mechanism for federal coordination might be an interdepartmental committee on biological survey. Such a committee could be chaired by the Secrecy of the Interior and include the heads of key federal departments and agencies involved in the Partnership, especially the Departments of Agriculsure, Commerce, Defense, and Transportation, EPA, and the National Science Foundation.
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From page 138... ...
Appropriate mechanisms also need to be established to obtain scientific advice for the Partnership and to ensure proper data management. These mechanisms would identify priorities for research and protocols for surveys and inventories; establish procedures for quality assurance in research and data management, including the development of database standards; plan the development of the NPBS data network; and develop recommendations for ensuring access to data by public and private users.
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From page 139... ...
) has a working relationship for land management with state and county governments and has regulatory relationships for trust species through the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Great Intakes Fishery Councils, various fisheries legislation, and other laws.
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From page 140... ...
The coordination mechanisms recommended in this chapter will greatly improve the efficiency and expenditure of federal funding, including evaluation and prioritization of current spending on programs relevant to the goals of the Partnership. Nonetheless, there likely will be a need for increased federal investments.
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From page 141... ...
For example, in many instances a land manager might require on-site scientific expertise to address an immediate and narrow issue. Under the department's proposal, such requirements would have to be met by the NBS ~ we believe that this arrangement would not be most responsive to the land manager's needs and would unduly burden the NBS with tasks that would not contribute to the nation's understanding of its biological resources.
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From page 142... ...
to assist in the formation of the NBS and recommends that this practice be extended and expanded. Temporary personnel exchanges between the NBS, other federal agencies, and other participants in the NPBS can be an effective way to augment NBS scientific expertise and core capabilities.
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From page 143... ...
Interagency personnel exchanges can be an effective mechanism to leverage existing federal personne! resources, minimize duplication among the agencies, and provide a rapid infusion of additional skills to the NBS.
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From page 144... ...
Recommendation =7: The NBS should develop mechanisms to use research and inventory programs in other federal agencies. There are extensive biological research and inventory programs in NOAA, USDA, EPA, the Smithsonian Institution, and DOD.
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From page 145... ...
Recommendation Ad: The Secretary of the interior should support expanding the scope of financial assistance for state programs to make the states fun participants In the National Partnership. The states receive funding for activities under the PittmanRobertson, Wallop-Breaux, and Endangered Species Acts that covers research surveys and inventories and management actions focused on sport fish, game animals, and endangered species, respectively.
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From page 146... ...
Initial high-priority subjects for increased leveraging and coordination of federal biological research spending would include those mentioned in Chapter 2. Effective leveraging of other federal programs might necessitate small increases in NBS budgets for interagency collaborative research activities.
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From page 147... ...
We therefore concluded that increasing funding levels for the appropriate programs would be an effective way of improving the scientific knowledge appropriate for dealing with biodiversity in the U.S. To examine the actual and potential role of NSF in supporting the study of U.S.
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From page 148... ...
Army Corps of Engineers, however, which have extensive land-management and permitting responsibilities and large cadres of biologists, appropriate steps should be taken to allow them to address directly the needs of the NPBS in the future; the national welfare clearly makes such a mandate highly desirable. Future funding needs for the other agencies should be carefully assessed within the framework of the NPBS.
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From page 149... ...
A strong National Partnership, with a key central role for the National Biological Survey, will remain essential for understanding the current state of the nation's biological resources, how that state is changing, and the causes of those changes.
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