Highlights for July 10, 1998
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• USGS Assists Great Lakes Fishery Commission With DOINET Connection: On July 7, Peter Strong (CBI) worked with Scott Nelson (GLSC) and Chris Ekonomidis (Great Lakes Fishery Commission-GLSC) to connect the GLFC facility to DOINET. The Great Lakes Science Center works closely with the Fishery Commission, an international organization established in 1955 to coordinate research programs on the Great Lakes. GLSC is providing an interconnection point for GLFC's wide area network connection to DOINET and the Internet. (Peter Strong, Denver, 303-202-4246)
  
  
• USGS Scientist to Review National Interagency Fire Center Proposals: Karl Brown (CBI) will serve as a peer reviewer for fire science research proposals submitted to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in Boise, Idaho. At the request of Bob Clark at NIFC, Brown will evaluate USGS proposals for research work related to 11 fire science issues. (Karl Brown, Denver, 303-202-4240)
  
  
• Vegetation Mapping Program Proposes NPS Fire Fuels Mapping: On July 7, Maury Nyquist (CBI) submitted a USGS-NPS proposal to the Joint Fire Science Program of the National Interagency Fire Center to investigate and demonstrate potential advantages of linking fire fuels inventory and mapping of National Parks with the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program. If funded, the project would survey the methods currently used in the National Parks to inventory and map fire fuels and carry out a demonstration project in Glacier National Park. The fire fuels mapping would be conducted in conjunction with the recently initiated USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program inventory, classification, and mapping of vegetation at Glacier, to be carried out during FY 1999-2002. Depending on available funding, other potential partners in this endeavor are Parks Canada, USDA Forest Service, and the Blackfoot Tribe. CBI administers and directs the scientific activities of the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program. (Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303-202-42 )
  
  
• USGS Scientist Assists USFWS 1998 Annual GIS Workshop: On June 30-July 2, at the request of the USFWS, Ralph Root (CBI) assisted with presenting the USFWS Geographic Information Systems National Workshop, an annual training and information sharing event. Root presented a session on use and application of imagery in geographic information systems (GIS) databases for land managers to approximately 80 GIS specialists and managers. The workshop training sessions were held at the USFWS National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Root also discussed the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program with USFWS participants and encouraged them to visit the program Web page <http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg/> for examples of how the NVCS (National Vegetation Classification Standard) has been implemented. Additionally, Root encouraged use of MetaMaker, the USGS-developed tool for metadata documentation, to ensure National Biological Information Infrastructure-compliant metadata production. (Ralph Root, Denver, 303-202-4232)
  

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives:

• FGDC to Release Biological Data Profile for Public Review: On July 1, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Standards Working Group ratified release of the Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata for public review, tentatively scheduled for August through October 1998. Maury Nyquist (CBI; Biological Data Working Group Chair) and Susan Stitt (CBI) are BRD representatives to the Standards Working Group. The Biological Data Profile is an extension of the FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata for documenting geospatial and non-geospatial biological data. It will be the data documentation standard for the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Metadata Clearinghouse, and will be useful for anyone wishing to document biological data or information sets. (Susan Stitt, Denver, 303-202-4234)
  
  
• FGDC Approves Grant for Biological Data Profile Review: Maury Nyquist (CBI; Chair, FGDC Biological Data Working Group) and Anne Frondorf (OBIO; Executive Secretary, FGDC Biological Data Working Group) submitted a proposal to the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Secretariat for a grant to aid in the public review process of the draft Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata. The FGDC Secretariat has approved the grant, which will be used to have the American Institute for Biological Sciences (AIBS) help facilitate public review by interested biological sciences professional societies and scientists and to convene an experts workshop to help adjudicate the comments from the public review. AIBS was founded by Federal charter in 1947 as a non-profit scientific organization for the advancement of research, education, professional relations, and public understanding in the biological, medical, environmental, and agricultural sciences. (Maury Nyquist, Denver, 303-202-4217)

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries:

• USGS Scientist Contributes to Knight Ridder Wildfire Series: On July 9-10, Karl Brown (CBI) assisted Knight Ridder Tribune staff in developing a national series of articles depicting wildfire processes. The role of fire, reasons and need for it, and what processes are involved will be the focus of several feature articles. Brown discussed fire behavior, fuels changes, and regional differences, and provided contacts for National Interagency Fire Center data sources. He also referred Knight Ridder to USGS botanists and fire ecologists Jan Van Wagtendonk and Don Despain, in Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks, respectively, for regional details. Brown agreed to review Knight Ridder graphics prior to publication. (Karl Brown 303-202-4240)
  

V. FOIA Requests: No report.