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National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)
September 10, 2002
Representative Alan Mollohan
Ranking Member, House VA-HUD-IA Subcommittee
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Mollohan:
As President of the 8,000 member Ecological Society of America, the nation's
professional society of ecological scientists, I ask for your support for the
National Ecological Observation Network (NEON). NEON is a National Science
Foundation (NSF) project for which the President has included $12 million in
his fiscal year budget request.
Ecological systems provide the United States with basic needs that sustain
human life, such as food, fiber, clean water, and clean air. They also provide
us with recreation and aesthetic pleasure. Yet, we currently lack both a way
to uniformly collect national data and the required scientific infrastructure
to allow us to clearly understand how humankind and environmental change
influence ecological processes over large land areas and over long time
periods (i.e., over centuries). Developing this understanding is of critical
importance, because sustaining ecological processes lies at the heart of
sustaining our society. This knowledge also will enable the scientific
community to develop early warning systems for critical ecosystem threats,
including non-native invasive species (e.g. West Nile virus, leafy spurge,
gypsy moth).
The NEON program will address this problem by creating a nationwide ecological
monitoring network. This network will provide the scientific community with
the capability -- for the first time - to formally collate long-term
ecological records and data in a comprehensive and uniform manner. This
enhanced scientific capability will enable the creation of new measurement
programs and the design of cutting-edge experiments that will allow us to
better forecast ecological change and to provide accurate scientific
information to decision makers.
We therefore request your support for the NEON program. Attached, please find
a fact sheet with additional information concerning NEON. Should you have
questions regarding this matter, please contact ESA's Director of Public
Affairs, Nadine Lymn at (202)833-8773, ext. 205.
Thank you in advance for your support of this important national program.
Sincerely, 
Dr. Ann M. Bartuska, President
FACT SHEET:
National Ecological Observation Network (NEON)
What is NEON?
NEON, or the National Ecological Observation Network, will provide a truly
regional and national resource - a continent-wide research network of
geographically distributed observatories, linked through state-of-the-art
communications. NEON is designed to produce the scientific infrastructure
necessary to build the knowledge base required to forecast the status and
trends of regional and national ecological systems.
Unique Opportunity
The network will enable collection and analysis of data used to determine
interaction of organisms and complex ecological dynamics that form the
foundation for ecosystem health and human responses to it. NEON represents a
unique opportunity for biological monitoring at the broadest level and allows
for sensing and assessing fundamental changes in ecosystem structure and
function. With new understandings of biodiversity, global change, invasive
species and bioterrorism, scientists will be able to better inform policy
makers, natural resource managers, and the general public in addressing these
issues.
Why NEON?
The creation of NEON will help to a fill a major void that currently exists in
our national scientific infrastructure. While over the years we have created
many coordinated, national systems to forecast important events such as weather
and earthquakes that directly impact our society, we have no coordinated,
national capability to forecast ecological change.
NEON will serve as a platform to answer large-scale ecological questions, and
will have applications such as:
- Tracking pollution and potential environmental hazards - Surveillance of
threats to ecological systems
- Tracking of human, livestock and agricultural disease outbreaks (e.g. West Nile
Virus, Hoof and Mouth disease, and Avian Flu) and analysis of associated risks.
- Mitigation of natural (e.g. earthquakes, hurricanes, droughts) or unintentional
disasters (oil spills, radioactive releases) that change ecological systems and
lead to economic and cultural dislocations
- Climate and water assessments and analysis ranging from the immediate to
long-term
- Biological/chemical agent detection and early warning system against attack
- Weather forecasting and fire danger prediction
- Evaluation of surface and subsurface waters
- Evaluation of issues facing national forests and lakes, rivers and streams
- Better management of natural resources
Request for Action
Urge support from the VA-HUD-IA appropriation's subcommittee for the
President's Budget Request. The Administration's fiscal year 2003 request
included $12 million in the National Science Foundation Major Research and
Facilities Construction (MREFC) account for the project, specifically for proof
of concept prototyping and the initiation of construction and networking at two
initial sites. The Senate VA/HUD Appropriations bill contains no funding for
the project in FY03.
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