[Taxacom] FW: NSC Alliance Board -- Collections Executive Order Update

Tue Sep 1 06:03:16 CDT 2009

Dear Taxacom subscribers,

The Natural Science Collections (NSC) Alliance is urging members of the
Natural History Collections community, and affiliated communities and
organizations to support the proposed Executive Order (EO) on Natural
Science Collections by writing letters to President Obama in support of the
EO and other activities specified below.

Many thanks in advance,

Hank Bart

From: Robert Gropp [mailto:rgropp at aibs.org] 
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 10:40 AM
To: Recipient list suppressed:
Subject: NSC Alliance Board -- Collections Executive Order Update

To NSC Alliance Board Members,

A brief update and request for assistance on the Executive Order.

1.  On June 24, 2009, NSC Alliance President Bill Brown sent the proposed
Executive Order (EO) on Science Collections to Dr. John Holdren and to the
members/offices of the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections.
In July, Bill and I presented Dr. Holdren with another copy of the proposed
order during a reception marking the release of the IWGSC report.

2.  Since June, NSC Alliance has received official acknowledgement of the
correspondence from the Departments of Health and Human Services and
Commerce.  I will be speaking to the Commerce Department (NOAA) staff
reviewing the proposed order later today.

3.  We have requested and received various endorsements of the Executive
Order.  At this time, I know that the Florida and San Diego Museums of
Natural History have endorsed the EO, as have AIBS, SPNHC, AASG (State
Geologists), and ASIH.  The following organizations are
considering/developing an endorsement: Botanical Society, Mycological
Society, Ecological Society, Entomological Collections Network, Coastal and
Estuarine Research Federation, Ornithological Council, and Wildlife Society.
I plan to ask the Geological Society this week.

4.  Information about the EO is being compiled on the NSC Alliance website
at http://nscalliance.org/?p=139 and http://nscalliance.org/?p=144 .

5.  If your institution has endorsed the EO, please send a copy of the
endorsement to me at rgropp at aibs.org or fax it to 202-628-1509 so that we
may maintain a complete archive.  If your organization has not officially
endorsed the EO, please do so soon. 

6. Individuals: A letter to President Obama asking that he sign an EO for
collections is now available in the AIBS Legislative Action Center at
http://capwiz.com/aibs/issues/alert/?alertid=13948726 .  Please take 2
minutes to send a letter to the President -- all that is required is your
name, address and zip code.

7.  NSC Alliance Past President Michael Mares has published a Viewpoint
article, "Natural Science Collections: America's Irreplaceable Resource," in
the July 2009 issue of BioScience.  The article should currently be
available for free at
http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/full/10.1525/bio.2009.59.7.2.  This article
is a good resource for highlighting the importance and challenges facing
collections.

8.  Gropp and Mares have prepared the results of the 2008 NSC Alliance
survey of economic impacts on collections.  The manuscript will be published
shortly in the CLS Journal of Museum Studies.  We plan to once again conduct
the survey in October 2009.  

9.  If your organization has Government Relations personnel that you would
like to get involved in this effort, please have them contact me at
rgropp at aibs.org or 202-628-1500 x 250.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or
suggestions.

Rob

____________________________________________________________________________
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Robert Gropp, Ph.D.
Director, Public Policy Office
American Institute of Biological Sciences
1444 I (Eye) Street, NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-628-1500 x 250
Fax: 202-628-1509
Web site: www.aibs.org <http://www.aibs.org/> 