FC: U.S. Geological Survey responds to caribou map worker firing

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Forwards snipped for clarity. Thanks to Jason Taylor and Doug Carroll for 
sending this along. Response to: http://www.politechbot.com/p-01827.html 
--Declan]

**********

>I read with dismay your comments regarding the recent LA Times article.
>
>Mr. Thomas was not a Federal employee, thus could not have been fired by
>the U.S. Geological Survey.  The contract "task order" that USGS had with
>his employing company was cancelled.  USGS has not been advised of Mr.
>Thomas' status with his company.
>
>The task order -- which was clearly defined and primarily for geographic
>information systems work on "the ecology and population dynamics of
>migratory birds" -- was cancelled because the contractor was operating
>outside the scope of the contract. In working on large mammal species such
>as caribou, African mammals and tigers, the contractor exceeded the scope
>of the task order and was in violation of Federal contracting regulations.
>
>In addition, in direct conflict with the clearly understood standard
>operating procedures of the USGS and the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center,
>Mr. Thomas did not have his products scientifically reviewed or approved by
>the Research Program before posting them on our Federal website.  As a
>result, not only did material that was inappropriate to USGS' Patuxent
>Wildlife Research Center get posted on their website, but the USGS could
>not guarantee the scientific integrity of the material.
>
>The resolution of the matter concerning the activities of the contractor
>was handled internally by USGS contracting officers without any involvement
>from the Office of the Secretary of the Interior.  In addition, there has
>been no official guidance from the Secretary affecting the release of
>information to the public about any aspects of the Arctic National Wildlife
>Refuge.  The U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and
>other Interior agencies have continued to provide information about ANWR
>studies to Congress, reporters and other interested parties as requested,
>with the full support of Interior officials.
>
>Because there is high interest in this subject, these allegations make
>great reading. In this case, however, there is little of fact, but mostly
>fiction.  This is a caution to us all to always check the facts of a story
>before leaping to conclusions.
>
>Trudy Harlow
>USGS Public Affairs Officer
>"Trudy P Harlow" <tharlow () usgs gov>

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Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 10:55:03 -0500
From: Julieryan () julieryan com (Julie Ryan)
Organization: http://www.julieryan.com/
To: declan () well com
Subject: Re: FC: Federal worker fired over Web map of Arctic caribou

There's an argument that pulling the already collected, compiled and
published data violates OMB A-130.  See OMB A-130 at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a130/a130.html

Some of the more relevant passages:

8. Policy :  Agencies shall
1.  ...
(d) Seek to satisfy new information needs through interagency or
intergovernmental sharing of information, or through commercial sources,
where appropriate, before creating or collecting new information;

(e) Integrate planning for information systems with plans for resource
allocation and use, including budgeting, acquisition, and use of
information technology;

....

(k) Incorporate records management and archival functions into the
design, development, and implementation of information systems;

1.Provide for public access to records where required or appropriate.

2.Information Collection. Agencies shall collect or create only that
information necessary for the proper performance of agency functions and
which has practical utility.

3.Electronic Information Collection. Agencies shall use electronic
collection techniques where such techniques reduce burden on the public,
increase efficiency of government programs, reduce costs to the
government and the public, and/or provide better service to the public.
Conditions favorable to electronic collection include:

(a) The information collection seeks a large volume of data and/or
reaches a large proportion of the public;

(b) The information collection recurs frequently;

(c) The structure, format, and/or definition of the information sought
by the information collection does not change significantly over several years;

(d) The agency routinely converts the information collected to
electronic format;

(e) A substantial number of the affected public are known to have ready
access to the necessary information technology and to maintain the
information in electronic form;

...


7.Avoiding Improperly Restrictive Practices. Agencies shall:

(a) Avoid establishing, or permitting others to establish on their
behalf, exclusive, restricted, or other distribution arrangements that
interfere with the availability of information dissemination products on
a timely and equitable basis;

etc etc etc

**********

Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 19:34:43 -0800 (PST)
From: Phil Wolff <philw () yahoo com>
Subject: Re: FC: Federal worker fired over Web map of Arctic caribou
To: declan () well com

The http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/geotech/ site is
restored, without any caribou and with this note:

---
Contents of this website are undergoing review.
Datasets that have completed peer review and received
Research Program approval have been reposted. Other
datasets are still undergoing review and will be
reposted as soon as Patuxent can ensure their
scientific credibility.

Thank you for your patience with our review process.
---

- Phil

**********




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