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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:black'>As Chair of SPNHC’s Legislation & Regulations Committee, I wanted to comment on recent posts relating to collections from U.S. Federal lands that are held by non-Federal institutions. The Legislation & Regulations Committee is the Society’s clearinghouse for information and events related to laws, regulations, permits and related issues affecting the collection, possession, ownership and transportation of natural history specimens.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:black'>We are proud of all our museums and collections represented in the broad scope of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. This includes holdings under a wide range of ownership, stewardship and governance situations. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:black'>A number of Federal agencies in the United States have sought, and are increasingly seeking, partnership with non-Federal entities to provide professional curation services for collections which require care outside the resources of the parent agency. In the past, many of these arrangements were informal, even casual; that approach is no longer possible. Collections management partnerships under repository agreements now require formal contractual clarification of ownership, mutual responsibilities, and mutual rights and benefits. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:black'>Inevitably, differences of opinion sometimes arise. As a society whose membership includes a wide range of stakeholders, SPNHC does not have a position on this issue beyond our general mission of ensuring that collections are appropriately cared for and made accessible to users. Nonetheless, we are working with the Conference on Fossil Resources to present a joint workshop at the 2013 CFR and SPNHC meetings that are taking place in Rapid City this June, which is intended to foster productive discussion of these and related issues, with the goal of reaching a formal position statement on the roles of repositories for natural history collections in the 21<sup>st</sup> century. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='color:black'>It’s a complex issue, and one that can only be solved with the active involvement of all interested parties. I should also remind readers of NHCOLL-L that this is not a one-sided debate; not everyone has the professional latitude to contribute in a public online forum. For this reason, we hope to see everyone who has concerns about Federal agency collections issues at the meetings in June and most particularly at the workshop here on June 19; details on how to register for the meetings with be going out soon. We look forward to a positive and productive day with a thoughtful position statement on these issues drafted for further work. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sally Y. Shelton, Associate Director<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Museum of Geology and Paleontology Research Laboratory<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>South Dakota School of Mines and Technology<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>501 E. St. Joseph<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Rapid City, SD 57701<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Sally.Shelton@sdsmt.edu<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>605.394.2487<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>