********************************************************** AWG E-MAIL NEWS November 1999 #7 ********************************************************** CONTENTS: PUBLIC COMMENT ON DRAFT FOSSIL MANAGEMENT REPORT COMMISSION ON THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING AND TEACHNOLOGY ************************************************************ AGI GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PROGRAM AGENCY ACTION ALERT: 11-5-99 Public Comment Period on Draft Fossil Management Report ************************************************************ IN A NUTSHELL: The Department of the Interior is seeking public comment on its draft report to Congress entitled "Assessment of Fossil Management on Federal and Indian Lands." Comments will be accepted until November 29, 1999. The report was requested by senators whose previous attempts at fossil legislation have been rebuffed by the Clinton Administration. The report states that fossils on federal lands are part of America's heritage, and calls for greater efforts to protect and preserve fossils as well as their related data. Public comment periods are the principal mechanism for federal agencies to receive feedback on draft rules, regulations, and policies before they are put into final form and officially promulgated. It is important that the geoscience community plays a part in the development of policies regarding the treatment of fossils on public lands. ******************** On October 25th, the Department of the Interior (DOI) released a draft version of its congressionally mandated report, "Assessment of Fossil Management on Federal and Indian Lands." Eight federal agencies -- the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Geological Survey -- helped develop the report. The report uses seven "basic principles" as the basis for recommendations regarding the development of future legislation governing the treatment of fossils on public lands. These basic principles are: * Fossils on federal land are a part of America's heritage. * Most vertebrate fossils are rare. * Some invertebrate and plant fossils are rare. * Penalties for fossil theft should be strengthened. * Effective stewardship requires accurate information. * Federal fossil collections should be preserved and available for research and public education. * Federal fossil management should emphasize opportunities for public involvement. The draft report is available in text and pdf formats at http://www.fs.fed.us/geology. The public comment period lasts until November 29th, and geoscientists are encouraged to submit their views on this draft. Written comments should be sent to: Sara Pena, Bureau of Land Management, 1849 C St. NW, LS-204, Washington DC 20240. Actions taken by DOI were triggered by an obscure provision in report language accompanying the Senate-passed S. 2237, the Fiscal Year 1999 Interior and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which funds DOI and the U.S. Forest Service. At the request of Senators Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Tim Johnson (D-SD), Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Slade Gorton (R-WA) inserted two paragraphs that called on the Secretary of the Interior to issue a report on "assessing the need for a unified Federal policy on the collection, storage, and preservation of...fossils." Access to fossils on public lands has been an issue of longstanding concern for Johnson, who co-sponsored H.R. 2943, the Fossil Preservation Act of 1996, while serving in the House of Representative during the 104th Congress. According to his staff, the purpose of the mandate for a DOI report was to push the administration to address the need for a national policy for fossils on public lands. Further background from the 104th, 105th, and 106th Congresses is available at: http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis106/fossilup99.html. As part of the development of the report, a town meeting was held on June 21, 1999 at the U.S. Geological Survey's headquarters in Reston, Virginia. The meeting, announced in the Federal Register, was designed to receive input on federal paleontology policies and a background document entitled "Collection, Storage, Preservation, and Scientific Study of Fossils from Federal and Indian Lands" (also available on the web in pdf format at http://www.fs.fed.us/geology). At the meeting --chaired by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's science advisor Dr. William Brown -- representatives from most of the Interior bureaus, as well as the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Army corps of Engineers, heard testimony from members of the public, including several representatives from The Society for Vertebrate Paleontology, an AGI member society. A summary of the meeting can be found on the AGI website at: http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis106/fossils.html. AGI submitted written comments on the need for geoscience community involvement and the importance of data preservation. Those comments are available at http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis106/fossilup99.html. The draft report contains a set of recommendations linked to the seven basic principles described above. The recommendations include: * Future legislation should reaffirm the current use of federal fossils for their scientific, educational, and, where appropriate, recreational values. * Future legislation should reaffirm the restriction of vertebrate fossil collection to qualified personnel, with the fossils remaining in federal ownership in perpetuity. * Future legislation should reaffirm mission-specific agency approaches to the management of plant and invertebrate fossils. * Future legislation should include provisions for penalizing thefts of fossils from federal lands in a manner that will assist agencies more effectively to prosecute such thefts and deter future thefts. Penalties should reflect not only the loss of the fossil, but any damage resulting from its removal. Future funding strategies should emphasize education of federal managers, prosecutors, law enforcement personnel and the judiciary regarding techniques for the adequate protection of fossil resources. * Future legislation should contain provisions that acknowledge the critical role of inventories in the effective management of fossil resources. Increased emphasis on funding fossil inventories should take into consideration, where possible, regional approaches across agency lines, using modern technology such as GIS. Such funding could also address specific issues, such as the impact of erosion on the loss of resources. Future legislation should assure, as needed, the confidentiality of information about fossil resources. * Future legislation should affirm the importance of curating scientifically valuable fossils as federal property, but managed in partnership with non-federal repositories. Future funding approaches should emphasize the use of modern technology to improve curation and access, as well as the sharing of information between and among government agencies and other institutions. * Future legislation should include an emphasis on public education and participation in the stewardship of fossil resources. Future funding approaches should emphasize the use of technology to increase public education and awareness of the importance and benefit of fossil resources. ****************************************************************************** AGI submission to Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology ****************************************************************************** This message includes AGI's submission to the congressionally mandated Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology. The submission is in response to a request from the commission for input on "best practices" related to underrepresented groups. Since AGI's Minority Participation Program has been addressing this issue since 1971, it seemed important that AGI provide input to this process. The commission was created by an act of the same name signed into law last October. Its mandate is to "recommend a specific set of actions...directed toward policies and programs that can be implemented by the Congress, federal departments and agencies, state governments, private enterprise, non-profit organizations, and education institutions." The commission, which operates out of the National Science Foundation, was appointed by governors and congressional leadership from both parties. It includes ten men and women active primarily in the private sector of technology and science. Dr. Kathryn Johnson is the lone geoscientist on the Commission, appointed by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD). She received her Ph.D. in geology from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and works as an environmental consultant. Lauria Martin-Vermilyea and Mike Smith were very helpful in putting together this brief summary of MPP for the commission. If you have any questions about the commission or this AGI submission, please let me know. There is also additional information at http://www.agiweb.org/gap/legis106/womenscience.html. ******************** November 4, 1999 Ms. Linda C. Skidmore, Executive Director CAWMSET 4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1280 Arlington, VA 22230 Dear Ms. Skidmore: Thank you for the opportunity to contribute written testimony on a "best practice" related to improving the participation of underrepresented minorities in the scientific workforce. The American Geological Institute (AGI) applauds the efforts of the Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Engineering, and Technology Development. AGI is a federation of 35 geoscience societies representing over 100,000 geologists, geophysicists, and other earth scientists. For nearly 30 years, AGI has supported scholarships for undergraduate geoscience majors and geoscience graduate students who are members of ethnic groups that are significantly underrepresented in the geosciences. The objective of this program is to provide financial and mentoring support to these students in order to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the educational pipeline. Doing so is critically important to increasing the numbers of underrepresented minorities in the geoscience workforce, thus allowing us to take full advantage of all the human resources in this nation. The attached two-page description of AGI's Minority Participation Program follows the format outlined on the commission's website. Please let me know if you or any members of the commission have any questions about this program. Again, thank you for the opportunity to share AGI's experience with the commission and best of luck with your undertaking. Sincerely yours, David Applegate, Ph.D. Director of Government Affairs Enclosure CC: Marcus E. Milling, AGI Executive Director Michael J. Smith, AGI Education Director AGI Executive Committee ***************** Best Practices - Increasing Minority Participation in Science Organization: American Geological Institute, supported with funding from the National Science Foundation, corporations, geoscience organizations, and individuals. Contacts: Dr. Michael Smith American Geological Institute 4220 King Street Alexandria VA 22302-1502 703-379-2480 ext. 210; 703-379-7563 fax msmith@agiweb.org Target Group: Undergraduate geoscience majors and geoscience graduate students who are U.S. citizens and are members of ethnic groups that are significantly underrepresented in the geosciences: Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American (including American Indian, Eskimo, and Pacific Islander). Practice: AGI Minority Participation Program Driving Issues: Ethnic minority groups (Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian) are significantly underrepresented in the geosciences. They comprise only about 4.4% of the entire professional geoscience population compared to 22.4% of the U.S. general population. The underrepresentation of minorities as geoscience professionals results from a lack of minority geoscience students in colleges and universities. In 1996, only 2.4% of students receiving geoscience bachelor's degrees were Black/African-American, Hispanic/Latino, and American Indian. Organization need: To expand the opportunities for underrepresented racial/ ethnic minority groups in the geosciences in order to create a more diverse, inclusive, and dynamic workforce. The underrepresentation reflects significant neglect of this country's human resources. Theconsequences of such neglect will affect the ability of the United States to improve its future global scientific competitiveness to meet the economic and societal challenges of the 21st century. Description: Since 1971, AGI has sought to attract ethnic minority students to careers in the geosciences by awarding scholarships to decrease the financial needs of qualified minority students, lessening the need for external employment and giving students more time to focus on their studies and related activities. Combined with active mentoring, these scholarships improve the recruitment and retention of underrepresented ethnic minority students in the geosciences. Components of the program include: 1. Recruitment: Students are recruited through a broad distribution of program announcements and posters at the high school, college, and graduate department levels, as well as to state science supervisors, editors of science and education periodicals, and geoscience, education, and minority organization meetings. 2. Selection: The AGI Minority Participation Program Advisory Committee reviews scholarship applications and determines award recipients based on academic performance and financial need as well as potential for success as a geoscience professional. 3. Mentoring: Each member of the advisory committee is assigned specific students to mentor during the coming academic year with a maximum of six students per member. Mentoring focuses on supporting academic retention and scholar development through contact by campus visits, telephone, and correspondence (including e-mail). Mentors can offer constructive advice about what preparation and survival skills are necessary to succeed as a geoscience student and a professional geoscientist as well as administrative follow-up within the scholarship program. They contact students at least twice each semester. Mentoring is enhanced by using program alumni who live near the students and/or have closely aligned geoscience career interests. 4. Professional development: Students are encouraged to attend professional meetings in order to become familiar with the issues addressed by geoscience professionals and allow them to refine their skills in professional and scientific communication. Research opportunities are also encouraged. 5. Communication: Networking among program participants and their mentors is critically important and is attained through electronic communication and annual gatherings at geoscience society meetings. Date Started: The AGI Minority Participation Program was established in 1971 with support from corporations, geoscience organizations, and individuals. In 1989, AGI received its first grant from the National Science Foundation to enable the program to increase participation specifically focused on undergraduate minority geoscience students. Critical Success Factors in Implementation: The program depends on financial support by corporations, individuals, organizations, and the federal government. Active participation of program alumni, especially in supporting the recruitment and support of current scholars, is also important, as is dedicated program staff. Resources Needed to Adopt The Practice: Minimum investment is $100,000 per year with additional support required to expand the number of students supported and provide opportunities for professional development and research. Dedicated staff support is a critical resource. Development Time To Adopt The Practice: Six months to initial scholarship recipient selection, longer for development of grant support. Minimum Implementation Time for Impact: Given that this program supports students, the results must wait until they have completed their course of study and become integrated into the workforce, hence a minimum of 3-5 years.