Highlights for February 25, 2000
USGS Center for Biological Informatics

I. Key Department News:

• FWS Looks at USGS Vegetation Mapping. On February 28, Tom Owens, Coordinator for the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program (VMP), will meet with Fish and Wildlife Service Region 6 refuge planners to discuss vegetation mapping and classification. Owens will present ways the USGS and the FWS can cooperate to describe, classify, and map vegetation communities on FWS Region 6 refuges. The USGS Center for Biological Informatics provides management oversight and scientific guidance to the VMP. (Tom Owens, Denver, 303-202-4259)

II. Agency Works on Presidential Initiatives:

• Train the Metadata Trainer. On February 28-March 3, more than 20 participants will attend a Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC)-funded workshop to learn training techniques and to develop metadata training modules. The FGDC-NBII Train the Metadata Trainer Workshop will be conducted at the Denver Federal Center by a USGS- National Park Service team. Participants represent Federal, tribal, state, and local governments. Jennifer Gaines (Office of Biological Informatics and Outreach) and Sharon Shin (USGS Center for Biological Informatics) received an FGDC grant in 1999 to develop the train the trainer materials, which also will be used in future training workshops. Metadata-data about data-provide a record of vital information about biological and spatial datasets and informational products in compliance with Executive Order 12906. (Sharon Shin, Denver, 303-202-4230)

III. Notable Congressional Activity: No report.

IV. Press/Media Inquiries: No report.

V. FOIA Requests: No report.