Biological Service

In the budget cutting discussions that are going on in Washington, the National Biological Service, like a lot of other programs, is on the block. I write to explain why, like many scientists, I believe that the NBS is a valuable investment in our nation’s future and ought to be retained.

Our nation faces a host of important decisions about how to use and protect our lands and waters. If we do not do so carefully and using the best information possible, we are likely to compromise the precious legacy of natural resources that we have inherited and that we should pass on to future generations. The biological sciences are the principal repository of knowledge about the living resources that inhabit the air, sea and land.

Just over a year ago, the Department of the Interior took a bold step to make this knowledge more accessible by forming the National Biological Service. The new program brought together in one organization the public servants and facilities who:

Identified the consequences of DDT use on eagles, pelicans and other birds.

Developed techniques for dealing with salmon disease in the Pacific Northwest fisheries.

Found the microscopic organisms in Yellowstone’s thermal pools that have become the basis of the DNA testing now widely used in criminal investigations.

Some have mistakenly interpreted the role of the agency as that of a counting house, conducting a “national survey” of the nation’s plant and animal life, whereas in fact it is more of a research agency, supplying vital information about our environment. NBS has taken a populist approach to information in the belief that all parties to decisions--property owners, government agencies, concerned citizens and scientific investigators--should have access to as much relevant biological information as possible.

Doing away with this small gem of an agency would result in the loss of much of its formidable science agenda and would save some part of its annual budget of $162 million--peanuts in the $1.5 trillion federal budget.

Serious science is a cornerstone to the future of many of the values that America prizes: healthy fish, abundant wildlife, vigorous forests, life-sustaining rivers and streams and more. If Congress wants decisions based on knowledge, it should retain the National Biological Service.

JAMES S. POWELL

President, Natural History Museum

Los Angeles County