also requested proposals to do an inventory of Pacific Coast 
ecological resources which might be affected by the coastal 
siting of refineries, processing plants, and transportation 
systems for oil and gas. Since the studies appeared to be 
potentially duplicative and also appeared to bear on the 
Commission's 23 August 1979 recommendation that the Service 
undertake efforts to generate a series of maps and accompanying 
text summarizing available biological, ecological, and 
socio-economic information to be considered in determining 
the optimal management strategy for the California sea 
otter, the Commission requested by letter of 2 October that 
the Service advise it on the relationships between the two 
studies and on actions the Service had taken to compile and 
map relevant biological, ecological, and socio-economic 
information. 
The Service's 18 November response to the Commission's 
inquiry indicated that although the "ecological characterization" 
and the "ecological inventory" were closely related, they 
were not duplicative and neither would provide the level of 
detail envisioned by the Commission's recommendations. The 
letter also described the Service's on-going efforts to 
compile and evaluate information needed to resolve issues 
concerning the protection and management of the California 
sea otter. 
Although the Service's 18 November letter indicated 
that steps were being taken to resolve the problem, progress 
was less than expected, and on 2 December, the Commission 
wrote to the Service expressing concern. Noting that resolution 
of the problem will require decisions and actions to secure 
the population from threats associated with human activities, 
restore the population to its optimum sustainable level, and 
minimize conflicts between sea otters and fisheries, the 
Commission expressed the view that on-going efforts must be 
more clearly focused and structured. The Commission recom- 
mended that the Service adopt and implement an approach 
which, among other things, recognizes the ultimate need for 
"zonal management" of sea otters and the need to establish 
at least one additional group of otters, as soon as possible, 
at a site secure from the threat of oil spills. 
At the end of 1980, the Service had not yet completed 
the second Technical Review Draft of the Southern Sea Otter 
Recovery Plan or formally responded to the Commission's 
letter of 2 December. The Commission had been advised, 
however, that the second Technical Review Draft would be 
completed and distributed in early 1981, and that the revised 
draft would address many, if not all, of the points raised 
in the Commission's 2 December letter. 
