Ch. 1— Summary and Options for Congress • 19 



scope of natural resource management agen- 

 cies; rather, they are in the province of zoos, 

 botanic gardens, arboretums, and agricultural 

 research stations. 



By mandating that recovery plans give spe- 

 cific consideration to captive breeding and 

 propagation. Congress could encourage links 

 between separate programs. The approach 

 could be broadened to encourage cooperative 

 efforts betw/een public and private organiza- 

 tions working offsite and onsite to conserve eco- 

 system and genetic diversity. A model for such 

 efforts exists in the emerging cooperation be- 

 tween the Center for Plant Conservation (net- 

 work of regional botanic institutions) and NSSL. 



Option 4.3: Establish programs to fill gaps in 

 current efforts to maintain biological diversity. 



One of the most obvious gaps in domestic pro- 

 grams is the lack of a formal national program 

 to maintain domestic animal genetic resources. 

 Congress could establish a program to coordi- 

 nate activities for animal germplasm conser- 

 vation, thereby reducing duplication and en- 

 couraging complementary actions. Such a 

 program could be established through clarifi- 

 cation of the Agricultural Research Service 

 mandate. An animal program could parallel the 

 National Plant Germplasm System, but other 

 structures should be explored as well. Alter- 

 natively, a separate program established to be 

 semi-independent from government agencies 

 might serve a greater variety of interests. The 

 best structure for such a program is at present 

 unclear. 



A congressional hearing could be held to 

 identify the main issues in establishing an ani- 

 mal germplasm program and to discuss alter- 

 native structures and scope of such a program. 



Coordination of international efforts is also 

 needed to preserve the diversity of agricultur- 

 ally important animals. Some efforts have al- 

 ready been made, and the concept of an inter- 

 national program is gaining support. Congress 

 could encourage the establishment of an Inter- 

 national Board for Animal Genetic Resources 

 (IBAGR). This program could parallel the In- 

 ternational Board for Plant Genetic Resources 



(IBPGR). An IBAGR could set standards and 

 coordinate the exchange and storage of germ- 

 plasm between countries and address related 

 issues such as quarantine regulations. It could 

 foster onsite management of genetic resources 

 for both minor and major breeds. 



Another major gap is protection of U.S. eco- 

 system diversity. Numerous types of ecosys- 

 tems, such as tall grass prairie, are not included 

 in the Federal public lands system. Congress 

 could direct Federal land-managing agencies 

 to include representative areas of major eco- 

 systems in protected areas. 



One vehicle for this is the Research Natural 

 Area (RNA) system. Since 1927, the RNA system, 

 with the cooperation of multiple Federal agen- 

 cies and private groups, has developed the most 

 comprehensive coverage of natural ecosystem 

 types in the United States. RNAs, however, are 

 small scale and are mainly established on land 

 already in public ownership. Therefore, the 

 RNA system, may not be able to cover the major 

 ecosystems without some additional mecha- 

 nism to acquire land not already in the Fed- 

 eral domain, possibly through land exchanges. 

 Nevertheless, Congress could recognize the 

 RNA system as a mechanism and direct agen- 

 cies to work toward filling the program gaps. 



Enhance the Knowledge Base 



Developing effective strategies to maintain 

 diversity depends on knowing the components 

 of biological systems and how they interact. In- 

 formation on the status and trends in biologi- 

 cal systems is also needed for public policy. The 

 first step in developing such information is fun- 

 damental descriptions of the various compo- 

 nents — species, communities, and ecosystems. 

 Data can then be analyzed to determine how 

 best to maintain biological diversity. More spe- 

 cifically, baseline data are needed for the fol- 

 lowing activities: 



• assessing the abundance, condition, and 

 distribution of species, communities, and 

 ecosystems; 



• disclosing changes that may be taking 

 place; 



