WHEREAS, the establishment of the United States National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) as conceived by the participating scientists and the National Science Foundation will significantly enhance the biological research infrastructure of the USA; and
WHEREAS, NEON, as summarized and outlined by the working group on Infrastructure for Biology at Regional to Continental Scales (IBRCS) in the white paper, "Rationale, Blueprint, and Expectations for NEON" will support the mission of the American Society of Mammalogists; and
WHEREAS, NEON will provide the foundation for new and expanding research projects on distribution, ecology, systematics, taxonomy, databases, bioinformatics, and collections of mammals; and
WHEREAS, NEON will provide support, either directly or indirectly, for the essential vouchering and collecting of data regarding mammals at collecting and monitoring sites for the proposed Biological Observatory Network (BON); and
WHEREAS, the implementation of NEON also will enhance the ability of biologists in the United States to understand and model environmental change, both natural and anthropogenic; and
WHEREAS, NEON will greatly enhance the ability of biologists in the USA to predict the outcomes of global warming or other environmental changes on biodiversity, from regional to continental scales; and
WHEREAS, NEON also will significantly enhance the ability of biologists in the USA to educate the next generation of scientists by providing long-term, responsive, and highly available data;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that, during the 83rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists held from 21 to 25 June 2003 at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, the American Society of Mammalogists fully endorsed and supported the IBRCS white paper "Rationale, Blueprint, and Expectations for the National Ecological Observatory Network," and urges the congress to support full funding of NEON as requested in the President's 2004 budget.