^ 



The Biological Services Program was established within the U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service to supply scientific information and 

 methodologies on key environmental issues that impact fish and 

 wildlife resources and their supporting ecosystems. The mission of 

 the program is as follows: 



• To strengthen the Fish and Wildlife Service in its role as a primary 

 source of information on national fish and wildlife resources, 

 particularly in respect to environmental impact assessment. 



• To gather, analyze, and present information that will aid decision- 

 makers in the identification and resolution of problems associated 

 with major changes in land and water use. 



• To provide better ecological information and evaluation for 

 Department of the Interior development programs, such as those 

 relating to energy development. 



Information developed by the Biological Services Program is 

 intended for use in the planning and decisionmaking process to 

 prevent or minimize the impact of development on fish and wildlife. 

 Research activities and technical assistance services are based on 

 an analysis of the issues, a determination of the decisionmakers 

 involved and their information needs, and an evaluation of the state 

 of the art to identify information gaps and to determine priorities. 

 This is a strategy that will ensure that the products produced and 

 disseminated are timely and useful. 



Projects have been initiated in the following areas: coal extraction 

 and conversion; power plants; geothermal, mineral, and oil shale 

 development; water resource analysis, including stream alterations 

 and western water allocation; coastal ecosystems and Outer 

 Continental Shelf development; and systems and inventory, 

 including National Wetland Inventory, habitat classification and 

 analysis, and information transfer. 



The Biological Services Program consists of the Office of Biological 

 Services in Washington, D.C., which is responsible for overall 

 planning and management; National Teams, which provide the 

 Program's central scientific and technical expertise and arrange for 

 contracting biological services studies with states, universities, 

 consulting firms, and others; Regional Staff, who provide a link to 

 problems at the operating level; and staff at certain Fish and Wildlife 

 Service research facilities, who conduct inhouse research studies. 



( 



