[Nhcoll-l] NSC Alliance Washington Report - READ THIS ONE!

Wed Feb 18 14:05:07 EST 2015

 I don't believe it's up to individual collections workers to research the history of every land management unit - that information is readily available from the units themselves, including the history of the area prior to it changing to park/refuge/etc. The unit's archivists/collections managers/other staff should be aware of their responsibility to assist in clarifying records where they can. Even defunct units (Cycad National Monument, for example) or situations of changed stewardship (shifting public/tribal/private patchworks on reservations, for example) still have well-documented histories and current stewards of that information to keep it in public access.
Technology and the ability to combine maps and GPS data on-site in the field are a huge benefit to modern collecting. The requirement to record and report this data improves legal validity and scientific value of specimens for both the collecting institution and the permitting land management agency. Nowadays, there should be no shrugged shoulders as to land ownership at the time of collection, particularly when it comes to legal responsibilities/trespassing concerns/etc. on the boundaries between public and private land.
However, for specimens collected in the past, of course all museum collections have the problem of 'bad data' and 'no data' specimens. As others have said, the need to put the work in to rectify those records as much as possible is part of collections management as a whole - not an undue burden imposed by this particular request. Say, for example, a specimen may have been collected from a site prior to its inclusion within the boundary of a park/refuge/etc. The specimen locality is known, but the collecting date is not. Filling in that blank is important to resolving a slew of potential stewardship issues, and the onus is on the collecting institution to do so. This is why the request includes specimens that 'may have' been collected from public land, not just the ones previously known to have been.
Working with the staff of the land management unit of concern is the best way to take the 'guess' out of 'educated guess', improve records and data across the board, and reduce the work required by the collecting institution.
Michelle PinsdorfFossil PreparatorDepartment of PaleobiologySmithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural Historypinsdorfm at si.edu

     On Wednesday, February 18, 2015 12:55 PM, Ellen Paul <ellen.paul at verizon.net> wrote:
   How do you know that the specific place was within a park (or refuge, or whatever) when the specimen was collected? Even if already declared as a protected area, the boundaries were likely different. Most parks and other protected areas were created and then land was added as it became available. Many had - and still have - inholdings. When I walk down the trails in Shenandoah National Park, I often see signs that state that the trail will cross through private lands, but the actual boundaries are not marked. How do I know, then, when I collect something, if I am inside the park boundaries or if I am on the private property? Yes, if I have a good gps, I can check later. 

 The first national park was created in 1916. Prior to that time, it was part of the Wyoming and Montana territories. Congress reserved the area for Yellowstone in 1872. In theory, you would have to go back to the Louisiana Purchase (1803) because that is when it became U.S. land.

 The first national wildlife refuge was created in 1903. Not sure who owned it prior to the creation of the refuge. 

 You would have to trace the history of each park, refuge, etc. to know if it was public land at the time the specimen was collected and then trace the acquisition of each piece of land or change in boundaries. 

 Why would you include something simply because the place is now a park if it wasn't a park at the time the specimen was collected? This is of particular concern given the stance on ownership and the implications that ownership carries. 

 Is "educated guess" the appropriate and accepted standard?

 Note that the Inspector General report that this measure addresses states that "...DOI says it will take 20 yrs to complete full cataloguing." The IG says that DOI will need to allocate resources.

 Yet the non-feds are supposed to do it in 2 hrs 20 minutes and of course have loads of money and staff to do it with. 

 Ellen

 Ellen Paul
Executive Director
The Ornithological Council
Email: ellen.paul at verizon.net
"Providing Scientific Information about Birds"
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nmnh.si.edu_BIRDNET&d=AwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=gIChYCEhMPDupBjtNg5OaAq4fOl3CxBdXfXFK2bOOW8&s=q9xePa6_matcpIUS1Z838zQr240bxvIYq8bZq0Z0Q9w&e= "
 On 2/18/15 8:59 AM, Anita Cholewa wrote:

 In a way, this is what all the digitization projects are seeking to do -- catalog exactly what we all have in the collections.   Currently, here we actually are entering specimen data from lands that are now parks -- since I and others have been to many, place names are familiar so we can make educated guesses and when georeferencing is done, they can be placed in or pretty close to parks. Does it take more of my time and that of my assistants.  Absolutely.  Is it good stewardship -- absolutely. 
  Anita 

   __________
 Anita F. Cholewa, Ph.D.
 Curator of the UM Herbarium (MIN)
    and Acting Curator of Lichens 
 J.F. Bell Museum of Natural History
 University of Minnesota
 1445 Gortner Ave
 ST PAUL MN 55108-1095

 campus mail code: 6022

 On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 5:16 PM, Brown, Matthew A <matthewbrown at utexas.edu> wrote:

> Are you really going to take the time to go back through your collections - every item! - to determine what came from  DOI-managed public lands - ever - even though not georeferenced that precisely at the time collected, even though the exact site may or may not have been DOI-managed public land at the time?

 Um... yes.  I'd be a pretty poor steward if I couldn't be accountable for what my institution holds in our public trust collections.

 Matthew A. Brown
 Head of Collections, Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory
 Lecturer, Department of Geological Sciences
 Jackson School of Geosciences
 The University of Texas at Austin
 R7600, Austin, TX 78758
 Office:(512)232-5515
 matthewbrown at utexas.edu
 jsg.utexas.edu/vpl

 > On Feb 17, 2015, at 12:25 PM, Ellen Paul <ellen.paul at verizon.net> wrote:
 >
 > I hope everyone has read or will read this specific item because it is a big deal for museum collections:
 >
 > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.gpo.gov_fdsys_pkg_FR-2D2015-2D02-2D03_html_2015-2D01880.htm&d=AwIF-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=nOx2v156D8uT1thUwsFwrfYvlGSuQwB5albVTXKh5v8&s=SWv4ecrUIXFG5zsWfnHrFuQJPhIv9KEo92dbsnRymkA&e=
 >
 > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.gpo.gov_fdsys_pkg_FR-2D2015-2D02-2D03_pdf_2015-2D01880.pdf&d=AwIF-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=nOx2v156D8uT1thUwsFwrfYvlGSuQwB5albVTXKh5v8&s=iHt12FZYwcCSSpinV_g8p7SkIWAX0uBPETumdAySeco&e=
  >
 > Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, federal agencies can't request information from non-federal entities or citizens without permission from the White House Office of Management and Budget. To obtain approval for an Information Collection Request (ICR) they must publish the proposed ICR for comment which is what they are doing here.
 >
 > This request is no doubt in part a result of the reports of the Inspector General (at least two over the past decade) that criticized DOI rather harshly for not having adequate inventories of stuff collected from public lands managed by DOI agencies       (USFWS, NPS, BLM).
 >
 > Take a good look at what they are going to require you to do. We've had this discussion in the context of the NPS situation. Are you really going to take the time to go back through your collections - every item! - to determine what came from  DOI-managed public lands - ever - even though not georeferenced that precisely at the time collected, even though the exact site may or may not have been DOI-managed public land at the time? You'd have to know the boundaries of each site at the time of collection, assuming it was even designated as a:
 >
 > National Wildlife Refuge
 > National Park
 > Public land area managed by the BLM
 > National wildlife preserve
 > Elk refuge
 > National bird refuge
 > etc.
 >
 > at the time of collection.
 >
 > And they estimate that this will take 2 hrs, 20 minutes per year.
 >
 > THEY RECEIVED NO COMMENTS IN RESPONSE TO THE PRIOR NOTICE PUBLISHED IN MARCH 2014.
 >
 > The Department of the Interior invites comments on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) The accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the burden of the collection and the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to  respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other collection techniques or other forms of information technology. ‘‘Burden’’ means the total time, effort, or financial resources expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide information to or for a federal agency. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install and utilize technology and systems for the purpose       of collecting, validating and verifying information, processing and
 > maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information, to search data sources, to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information.
 >
 > Think about the potential consequences of not complying once this goes into effect.
 >
 > I really suggest you read this notice carefully.
 >
 > Ellen
 >
 > Ellen Paul
 > Executive Director
 > The Ornithological Council
 > Email:
 > ellen.paul at verizon.net
 >
 > "Providing Scientific Information about Birds
 > "
   > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.nmnh.si.edu_BIRDNET&d=AwIF-g&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=nOx2v156D8uT1thUwsFwrfYvlGSuQwB5albVTXKh5v8&s=UCUDJ9K4Mcnb-BpPFb_xUJjuDwcZ7hpAD_gHk48b_J0&e= "
 >
 >
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 NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
 Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
 mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
 natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
 society. See https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.spnhc.org&d=AwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=gIChYCEhMPDupBjtNg5OaAq4fOl3CxBdXfXFK2bOOW8&s=ZuCd5uUoF-nhZuEKil_TvZDgIPIMn8jwDV8JW1w-vfg&e=  for membership information.

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_______________________________________________ 
NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
society. See https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.spnhc.org&d=AwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=gIChYCEhMPDupBjtNg5OaAq4fOl3CxBdXfXFK2bOOW8&s=ZuCd5uUoF-nhZuEKil_TvZDgIPIMn8jwDV8JW1w-vfg&e=  for membership information.

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_______________________________________________ 
NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
society. See https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.spnhc.org&d=AwIFaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=gIChYCEhMPDupBjtNg5OaAq4fOl3CxBdXfXFK2bOOW8&s=ZuCd5uUoF-nhZuEKil_TvZDgIPIMn8jwDV8JW1w-vfg&e=  for membership information.

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