<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2722" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY id=role_body style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #000000; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"
bottomMargin=7 leftMargin=7 topMargin=7 rightMargin=7><FONT id=role_document
face=Verdana color=#000000 size=2>
<DIV>New Southwest Exotic Plant Database: USGS scientists, in
partnership<BR>with The Nature Conservancy, recently completed development of
a<BR>regional database of invasive non-native plants as part of the<BR>Southwest
Exotic Plant Mapping Project that will help land managers<BR>share information
about invasive plant occurrence and distribution.<BR>The tools can be accessed
through the Southwest Exotic Plant<BR>Information Clearinghouse at
http://www.usgs.nau.edu/SWEPIC/index.asp.<BR>(Kathryn Thomas, Flagstaff, AZ,
928-556-7327) (Aug. 9, 2005)<BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>