The Sustainable Biosphere Initiative (SBI) presents a unique blueprint for the acquisition, dissemination and utilization of the ecological knowledge required to sustain the biosphere. The SBI has become a very large endeavor, whose success is sought by many agencies, organizations and professional scientific societies. The SBI has quickly outgrown the possibility of implementation by a group of volunteers. Because of both the intensity and breadth of interest in the SBI, it now becomes necessary to place the next steps on a more professional basis. A continuing research Project is proposed with the responsibility of (a) providing a national focal point for the implementation of the SBI; (b) developing symposia, workshops and other means to more fully define SBI programs, particularly the three research topics and the decision-making topics; (c) maintaining continuous interactions with federal agencies to help provide coordinated efforts and to meet agency needs as the SBI evolves; (d) coordinating efforts of the SBI with those of the international community of ecologists through the International Sustainable Biosphere Initiative; (e) involving other professional disciplines and societies in the SBI; (f) providing responses to the many requests for information about the SBI; and (g) reporting the status and progress of the SBI to the broad scientific community, decision-makers and the educational community.
