views on the Committee as you evaluate and develop a Federal R&D 

 program in the field of ecology. 



First, I would like the Committee to provide me with an early draft 

 outlining the structure of the discipline "Ecology." By first defining the 

 discipline, the Committee then has a framework upon which to 

 evaluate the current research and to project the research needs of the 

 future. 



The Committee should look briefly at the current research and identify 

 the gaps and duplications of the current Federal program. This 

 exercise should be only to the extent necessary to provide a foundation 

 for the more important activities of the committee. 



The Committee must address and define the categories of problems, the 

 solutions for which will depend heavily upon the acquisition and 

 transfer of basic ecological knowledge. One such major problem is the 

 current difficulty to project the short-term as well as the long-term 

 cumulative ecological effects that could result from planned major 

 action in the context of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969. 

 Many Federal agencies have expressed concern over the lack of 

 ecological information and the translating of the available 

 information into a form that allows for an assessment of the potential 

 significant environmental impacts that could derive from major 

 problems. 



The Committee should develop a set of major priority problems and 

 identify those areas of ecological research which should be encouraged 

 to provide the knowledge required for solutions to those problems. To 

 accomplish this a set of major research objectives needs to be 

 developed. From these goals and objectives, a priority list of research 

 needed should be developed. Organizational recommendations are 

 important but secondary to the identification of research areas. 



The Committee should also examine the transferability of the 

 knowledge gained from ecological research. We need to develop a set of 

 criteria for the conversion of knowledge gained into a mold that would 

 facilitate its use in problem solving. 



The Committee should examine the area of information gathering, 

 storage, retrieval and dissemination. Considering the fact that the 

 field of ecology is rapidly developing into a major supportative science, 

 it behooves the Committee to reassess the traditional mechanisms for 

 disseminating ecological knowledge in order to determine whether the 

 prevailing information delivery systems are adequate for the delivery 

 of ecological information to project planners. 



In conclusion, let me reiterate the view that I expressed during my 

 meeting with you. It is all too easy for committees to recommend that 

 more and more research be done. The Committee on Ecological 

 Research must guard against making such recommendations without 

 first providing careful and explicit justifications in support of those 

 recommendations. I look forward to maintaining a close liason with 

 the Committee and anticipate that its recommendations will be of great 

 assistance in designing a Federal program for the support of ecological 

 research which is supportive of the National Environmental Policy Act 



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