--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 14:59:36 -0500
From: David Cobb <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Politics and science? USGS Scientist fired over Arctic
Nat'l Wildlife Refuge maps (fwd)
Sender: David Cobb <[log in to unmask]>
Its always so nice to hear from the commercial sector - everything is so
cut and dried there? I don't think anyone is insinuating that our
"compassionate conservative" leader had anything to do with this -
actually, I wouldn't give him that much credit. However, it remains pretty
obvious that a respected scientist's observations have been censored for a
sensitive geographical area and that should be, at the very least, questioned.
David Cobb
At 02:36 PM 3/22/01 -0500, Johnnie Sutherland wrote:
>--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
>Date: Wed, 21 Mar 2001 14:13:34 -0800
>From: Eric Gakstatter <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Politics and science? USGS Scientist fired over Arctic
>Nat'l Wildlife Refuge maps (fwd)
>Sender: Eric Gakstatter <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
>
>Sorry, I'm not buying this.
>
>Too many unknowns. People get fired for a lot of reasons and usually it's
>not the one they think.
>
>I didn't vote for Bush, but I truly doubt that he cares one iota about
>whether the web site is up or not. More believable would be that Mr.
>Thomas's dept. head was trying to interpret the administration's
>intentions and acted accordingly...but even that is a stretch past reality.
>
>Think about it...if Mr. Thomas was a truly valuable contractor to their
>operations, would they have fired him without anyone first trying to give
>him a hint and chance to recover? Why would he want to work there if
>everyone around him cared so little about him to let him hang himself?
>
>My guess is that they were looking for a reason to can him and they found
one.
>
>Please don't burden the bureaucracy with this kind of unsubstantiated
>claim...and if you do, please don't complain about your taxes and why the
>government responds so slowly to our requests. It costs everyone time and
>money to deal with this.
>
>Eric Gakstatter
>1500 SW Birdie Dr.
>Corvallis, OR 97333
>
>>--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
>>Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 19:09:01 -0500 (EST)
>>From: Ken Grabach <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: Politics and science? USGS Scientist fired over Arctic Nat'l
>>Wildlife Refuge maps (fwd)
>>Sender: Ken Grabach <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>>
>>
>>I have had no opportunity to verify the veracity or details of this
>>information. I feel it is important, so I share it with you on this
>>list. It is from the Social Responsibility Round Table of the American
>>Library Association. If it annoys you, feel free to delete this. If you
>>are concerned about politics interfering with science and the publication
>>of map information, bear with this and read further. First is a forwarded
>>message from the chairman of the ALA SRRT, then a message from the person
>>at USGS who was affected by the action.
>>
>>
>>___________________________
>>Ken Grabach <[log in to unmask]>
>>Maps Librarian Phone: 513-529-1726
>>Miami University Libraries
>>Oxford, Ohio 45056 USA
>>
>>
>>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> >
>> >>Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 14:28:29 -0500 (EST)
>> >>From: Frederick W Stoss <[log in to unmask]>
>> >>To: SRRT Action Council <[log in to unmask]>
>> >>Cc: "David W. Inouye" <[log in to unmask]>, [log in to unmask],
>> >> [log in to unmask]
>> >>Subject: [SRRTAC-L:5952] Politics and science? USGS Scientist fired
>> >>over Arctic Nat'l
>> >> Wildlife Refuge maps
>> >>Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>> >>Sender: [log in to unmask]
>> >>Status:
>> >>
>> >>Friends and colleagues
>> >>
>> >>This is the first act of censorship by the bush administration. This
>> >>source of information is David Inouye, noted ecologist with a most
>> >>distinguished record as a research scientist, science policy advocate,
and
>> >>leader in the Ecological Society of America.
>> >>
>> >>This is chilling news. Many people on the lists receiving this message
>> >>belong to professional societies that must be called into action
>> >>IMMEDIATELY. A am asking my fellow members of the American Library
>> >>Association to send this notice to as many colleagues as possible.
>> >>
>> >>The message at the bottom of this commentary is frightening.
>> >>
>> >>I will request that the Councilors of the American Library Association's
>> >>Social Responsibilities Round Table and its Task Force on the Environment
>> >>request ALA's Washington Office to provide it members a report on this
>> >>issue and have it published in American Libraries, and posted to ALL of
>> >>ALA's eMail discussion lists.
>> >>
>> >>I will make a similar request to other appropriate ALA units, such as the
>> >>Science and Technology Section of the Association of College and Research
>> >>Libraries, the Government Documents Round Table, the Intellectual Freedom
>> >>Round Table, Map and Geography Round Table, and the Library and
>> >>Information Technology Association.
>> >>
>> >>I would encourage every member of any professional organization to do
>> >>likewise. I have alerted the Special Libraries Association and the
>> > >American Institute of Biological Science as to this.
>> > >
>> > >If Ian Thomas was fired to set an example for other federal
employees to
>> > >follow the bush-mandates in lock-step fashion, we professionals must
send
>> >>a clear message that this type of behavior will NOT be tolerated. Mr.
>> >>Thomas' work was being done as part of an ongoing research initiative to
>> >>share biological data with researchers and educators. His firing needs to
>> >>be investigated.
>> >>
>> >>He is being punished for doing something that strikes fear into partisan
>> >>politians--providing information. This act of censorship cannot go
>> >>unchallenged.
>> >>
>> >>Fred Stoss
>> >>Coordinator
>> >>Social Responsibilities Round Table
>> >>American Library Association
>> >>
>> >>Past Chair
>> >>Task Force on the Environment
>> >>American Library Association
>> >>
>> >>Past Chair
>> >>Environment Division
>> >>Special Libraries Association
>> >>
>> >>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> >>Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 12:54:10 -0500
>> >>From: Terry Link <[log in to unmask]>
>> >>
>> >>From:
>> >>"Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news"
<[log in to unmask]>
>> >>From: "David W. Inouye" <[log in to unmask]>
>> >>To: [log in to unmask]
>> > >
>> >>This news story is also reported at:
>> >>http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/20010315/t000022700.html
>> >>
>> >>From: Kennedy, Robert
>> >>Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2001 5:08 PM
>> >>Subject: USGS Scientist fired over Arctic Nat'l Wildlife Refuge maps
>> >>
>> >>Hello All- Here's an infuriating piece of news on the Arctic National
>> >>Wildlife Refuge issue.
>> >>
>> >>The news came over a topic-based listserve on image processing and remote
>> >>sensing. A scientist working with the USGS was fired because he placed
>> >>maps of caribou calving areas in the Arctic Nat'l Wildlife Refuge on the
>> >>web. This map was one of more than 20,000 maps he'd placed on the web.
His
>> >>web page (with all 20,000 maps) has been removed. This apparently
happened
>> >>in the last few days. Please read at least some of his account.
>> >>
>> >>This needs attention. It seems to indicate a sea-change in the Department
>> > >of Interior. While this is not a surprise given Bush's position on the
>> >>Refuge, we should make sure that it does not go unnoticed. If it bugs
you
>> >>like it bugs me, do something about it. Email Bush. Email or write
Senators
>> >>(our only hope for protection of the Refuge lies in the Senate). Write
the
>> >>newspaper, call your Aunt. This is outrageous.
>> >>
>> >>Read on: ------------------------------
>> >>
>> >>Hi All,
>> >>
>> >>Well, I have been fired for posting to the internet a single web page
with
>> >>some maps showing the distribution of caribou calving areas in the Arctic
>> >>National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
>> >>
>> >>My entire website http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/geotech/ has now been
>> >>removed from the internet. This represents about 3 years worth of
work and
>> >>20,000 plus maps showing bird, mammal and amphibian distributions,
>> >>satellite imagery, landcover and vegetation maps for countries and
>> >>protected areas all around of the globe. As far as I aware it was one of
>> >>the biggest collections of maps online and certainly the biggest
collection
>> >>showing maps of biodiversity and the environment. The website was often
>> >>visited by over a thousand visitors each week. In addition, I was
>> >>fulfilling roughly a dozen requests for geospatial data and information
>> >>from colleagues, other researchers and the general public each day.
>> >>
>> >>All of this comes as a rather big surprise to me. I was given no
chance to
>> >>remove the webpage or even finish writing an appeal before my position
was
>> >>terminated. I was working under a contract so I believe I have very
little
>> >>legal recourse. I have received no written explanation (or even an
email)
>> >>stating the exact reasons for the termination decision and I understand
>> >>that even though this would be a reasonable courtesy to expect, it is
>> >>unlikely to be forthcoming.
>> >>
>> >> From my viewpoint my dismissal was a high-level political decision
>> to set
>> >>an example to other Federal scientists. I base this belief on the
>> >>following information I received from a colleague in Alaska who is a
>> >>leading researcher on the issues involved:
>> >>
>> >>"I really hope you don't get fired. In fact, had the timing of what you
>> >>did not been so inappropriate based on everything else that was going
on, I
>> >>doubt that anyone would have noticed. Your work showed a lot of
>> >>initiative..."
>> >>
>> >>"...the fallout would not have been so great had the subject matter not
>> >>been one of the three USDOI super hot topics with the new administration
>> >>and had we not been briefing the Secretary at the nearly exact time your
>> >>website went up. Everyone is nervous and as I mentioned earlier,
>> >>consistency in presentation is paramount."
>> >>
>> >>So now, I believe my only recourse is to appeal to the general public in
>> >>the hope that in the future what just happened to me will not happen to
>> >>others.
>> >>
>> >>I would recommend anybody in a similar circumstances to contact the fine
>> >>people at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
>> >>(http://www.peer.org) or a similar organization.
>> >>
>> >>The response and support I have received from friends online has been
>> >>truely amazing. I very much appreciate how quickly people have acted
on my
>> >>behalf and helped publicize my plight and I especially wish to thank the
>> >>international mapping community...receiving letters of support from far
>> > >away places cheers me up no end. Please feel free to forward this
>> email to
>> >>other lists and media contacts! I would also be grateful if anybody who
>> >>misses all the maps I put on the internet please contact the USGS to let
>> >>them know and to ask that the maps be reposted.
>> >>
>> >>I feel very bad that these events are also affecting my colleagues at
>> >>Patuxent. Patuxent was a great place to work, has amazing researchers
and
>> >>everybody I worked with is very supportive.
>> >>
>> >>Many, many thanks for your support,
>> >>
>> >>Ian Thomas [log in to unmask]
>> >>
>> >> The Details:
>> >>
>> >>Nobody instructed/authorized me to post the web pages on Arctic National
>> >>Wildlife Refuge. It was done on my own initiative. I was working on
land
>> >>cover maps for all National Wildlife Refuges using the new National
>> >>Landcover Datasets. Last week I published over 1000 land cover maps
online
>> > >covering every National Wildlife Refuge and National Park in the
>> lower 48.
>> >>(These maps have now been removed from the internet too). Similar land
>> >>cover data for Alaska were not available but the Arctic National Wildlife
>> >>Refuge had a good landcover map so I included it.
>> >>
>> >>In the past, I helped produce the only set of maps online showing all
bird
>> >>species distributions in Alaska. In addition I have produced online
mammal
>> >>distribution atlases of Africa, maps for tigers in asia and I was working
>> >>on digitizing North American mammal range maps produced by the
Smithsonian
>> >>Institution.
>> >>
>> >>I have also been conducting background research to prepare proposals to
>> >>study the effects of mineral extraction on biodiversity and protected
areas
>> >>on a very large scale. One such proposal that I was preparing would have
>> >>looked at exporting analysis and mapping methods applied in the United
>> >>States to other regions of the World such as Africa. The proposal was
>> >>co-sponsored by the Mineral Division of USGS and the World Resources
>> >>Institute.
>> >>
>> >>The migration of caribou in North America is the closest thing that we
have
>> >>to the great mammal migrations that occur in Africa. African protected
>> >>areas are also under great pressure from possible development for mineral
>> >>extraction. So the carribou distributions that I found on the Fish and
>> >>Wildlife Service public website were of particular interest. I have also
>> >>worked for several years on maps of migratory bird distribution
patterns. I
>> >>therefore have a great interest in other migratory animals as many of the
>> >>temporal mapping problems are similar.
>> >>
>> >>I was completely unaware that there was anything wrong with publishing
ANWR
>> >>maps. I have never been informed of any agency restrictions or any other
>> >>guidelines on publishing maps depicting ANWR... I only now have been
>> >>informed that there is a two week old agency "communications directive"
>> >>that limits who is allowed to distribute new information on ANWR
within my
>> >>agency.
>> >>
>> >>I thought that I was helping further public and scientific understanding
>> >>and debate of the issues at ANWR by making some clearer maps. I also
hoped
>> >>that colleagues in USGS would see the maps and then contact me if they
>> >>needed additional mapping help. I was careful to quote my sources and
>> >>explain what I had done. I made no statement about what the maps might
>> >>mean with regard to oil development of the refuge.
>> >>
>> >>The web pages were put up on Wednesday, March 7, last week. The first
>> >>thing I did when I put the ANWR pages up on the internet was to inform
>> >>other USGS Biological Resources Division mapping people and other agency
>> >>(Fish Wildlife Service and National Park Service respectively) GIS people
>> >>through email that they were on the web. Informing other Federal
>> >>colleagues and agencies immediately upon publication to the web
appears to
>> >>me to be the only reasonable review process available, seeing as there is
>> >>no internal review website currently available...I have never been
informed
>> >>of any other established proceedure for review of web content on our
site.
>> >>I actually haven't had any complaints about or requests to change any
other
>> >>map on my website...
>> >>
>> >>I assumed that if anybody had a problem they could contact me directly
and
>> > >quickly and appropriate steps could be taken almost immediately. I
>> received
>> >>one warning from a colleague that the maps I put on the internet
should be
>> >>removed. Unfortunately, it was sent on Saturday so I did not receive
it in
>> >>time. I think the decision to terminate me was taken before I even
got to
>> >>work on Monday.
>> >>
>> >>I also assumed that because all I was doing was esentially presenting
>> >>existing public information in a clearer and improved format, there was
>> >>very little need for any extensive review other than the steps I
>> >>took. Indeed the changes that I made to the original Fish and Wildlife
>> >>Service (FWS) web maps were simply to digitize them ("trace"), then
overlay
>> >>them on satellite and vegetation maps and then summarize how may years
>> >>specific areas were a high density caribou calving area. I found a
similar
>> >>(poor quality) summary map on the FWS website that allowed me to check
the
>> > >accuracy of my simple analysis.
>> >>
>> >>I was unaware that FWS had updated the data. There is no mention of
>> >>updated information on the FWS website. This new data has still to be
made
>> >>public. If my maps were inaccurate in any way so are the public FWS
maps I
>> >>copied.... (please refer to
>> >>http://www.r7.fws.gov/nwr/arctic/pchmap2.html#section6)
>> >>
>> >>I think that over the last three years I have put more maps up on the
>> >>internet (at a guess approaching 20,000 to 30,000 static individual maps)
>> >>equalling any other website on the world wide web. So out of the tens of
>> >>thousands of maps (and hours) I finally publish one that got me
fired....I
>> >>suppose the odds were going to run out eventually....
>> >>
>> >>I am concerned that other Federal researchers may easily make the same
>> >>mistakes I just made and should learn from my example what happens if
>> >>you're not careful.
>> >>
>> >>Patuxent was a great place to work, has amazing researchers and
everybody I
>> >>worked with is very supportive.
>> >>
>> >> Ian Thomas
>> >>
>> >> Former Mapping Specialist at the:
>> >>GIS & Remote Sensing Unit
>> >>Biological Resources Division
>> >>United States Geological Survey
>> >>Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
>> >>
>> >>Old Homepage (no longer available)
>> >>http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/geotech/home.html
>> >>
>> >>The Global Environmental Atlas (no longer available)
>> > >http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/geotech/cindi/world.html
>>
>>***************************************************************
>>Pamela M. Salela
>>Women's Studies and
>>Academic Resident Librarian
>>Miami University Libraries
>>350 King Library
>>Oxford, Ohio
>>Phone: (513) 529-1674
>>Fax: (513) 529-3110
>>http://staff.lib.muohio.edu/~salelapm/Womens_Studies/subject/
>>***************************************************************
>>
>>--- End Forwarded Message ---
>--- End Forwarded Message ---
>
***************************************************************************
David A. Cobb Tel. 617.495.2417
Harvard Map Collection FAX 617.496.0440
Harvard College Library Email: [log in to unmask]
Cambridge, MA 02138 HTTP://hcl.harvard.edu/maps
************************** VERITAS ****************************************
--- End Forwarded Message ---
|
