Environmental scientists are joining with Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt in hailing a National Research Council (NRC) report that contains guidance on how to structure a new Department of the Interior (DOI) agency. The researchers say that suggestions outlined in the report provide a solid base for designing the direction the agency should take. The new agency, the National Biological Survey (NBS), composed of personnel formerly from seven existing DOI agencies, is the first federal agency devoted solely to inventorying and monitoring United States biological resources.
However, it remains to be seen whether the report and operations at NBS in the next year will completely allay the concerns of critics. Before A Biological Survey for the Nation, the independent report by NRC's Committee on the Formation of the National Biological Survey, came out in late September, they questioned the wisdom of creating the survey (R. Kaufman, The Scientist, Sept....
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