with the public), the function is important and should be further studied as a federal/state government model for data partnership.

Mutual planning for surveys and mutual agreement for the use of data as crucial to the success of this program. This is a program for professionals rather than lay citizens. The primary advantage to the partnership arrangement is the establishment of long-term commitments to create and maintain current data.

South Carolina is developing a statewide GIS to assist in natural resource management decisions. Federal funding is administered through the South Carolina Water Resources Commission (SCWRC) and NOAA's Strategic Environmental Assessment Division, which are the lead state and federal agencies designated to build this diverse partnership. The project encompasses a broad spectrum of potential GIS user needs and information resources including the local, state, and federal agencies and the private sector. Guidance as to the goals and direction of the project is through an advisory committee that includes the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), USGS, and NOAA, seven state agencies, several universities, and representatives of the timber and agriculture industry, as well as experts in other fields such as economics, wetland science, anthropology, and landscape architecture.

Initial goals are on placing state-of-the-art information management tools at the disposal of local communities so that natural resource management and economic development decisions are informed and accomplished with minimum conflict. Initial data capture was focused on the nationally significant Edisto River basin where the needs for jobs and for conservation are both critical. Day-to-day operational planning, staff support, and budgetary management are within the SCWRC. Representatives of the SCWRC maintain that the establishment of a lead operational agency has been critical to keeping the project focused and results oriented. They view the strengths of this partnership to be (1) the diversity of the stakeholders, (2) the breadth of funding sources (state, federal, and private sector), and (3) the strict adherence to data quality standards.

One of the first efforts was to establish a user needs study and to design the appropriate land base and natural resource themes. The SCWRC