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Assessment
Acclimations
Fall
2000
National Assessment News |
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Home National
Assessment
Acclimations
Fall
2000
National Assessment News |
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From June 12 to August 11, the draft
reports of the National Assessment Synthesis team (NAST) were made
available for public comment, as called for in legislation approved by the
Congress. During this period, there were over 33,000 distinct accesses to
the web posting of the draft report. Over 300 groups and individuals
responded with comments on the report. These comments were compiled and
have been carefully considered in the revision to the report being
prepared by the NAST. The NAST also met August 24 in Annapolis to consider
a number of the key comments and changes that were planned. As a result of
the meeting, the NAST concurred unanimously that its Overview and
Foundation reports are ready to be submitted for final review to the
special review panel formed under the auspices of the President's
Council of Advisers on Science and Technology and then on for official
agency review. These review/revision cycles are expected to be completed
in September and October, respectively, after which the report is to be
published. Significant progress is being made on the completion of the sector assessments. The Water sector report is complete and is expected to be released in the next few months. The Coastal Areas and Marine Resources report is being printed and should be available in December. The Agriculture sector report is being updated based on the review comments received and should be available later next year. Reports on the finding of both the Forest and Health sectors are to be published in peer-reviewed journals over the coming six months. Regional teams are making very good progress. The Alaska and Pacific Northwest reports and the summary report of the Mid-Atlantic region have already been published, and the foundation report for the Mid-Atlantic region is currently posted and available for review. The Southwest, the Great Lakes, and the Metro East Coast regional assessment reports are scheduled to be released during October. The New England and Southeast regions are getting ready to make their reports available for external review, with releases planned following revision. The Southern Great Plains-Rio Grande region is expecting to have its
report available for review later this fall and currently has some parts
of its draft report available. The Rocky Mt./Great Basin, California, and
Central Great Plains regions are also planning releases of their final
assessment reports in late fall/winter. The Pacific Islands and Northern
Great Plains are planning for release of their reports in the spring and
the Native Peoples/Native Homelands project in the southwestern US has
been expanded and expects to release its report next summer/fall. The Gulf
Coast Region is looking to spring 2002 for release of its report. Progress
on all of these activities is updated regularly on the National Assessment
web site. |
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