A United States Government agency created in 1970 as part of the United States Department of Commerce to determine how our oceans and atmosphere should be developed, regulated, analyzed, formed, and mined. NOAA tries to achieve these goals with the help of eight major federal services, The National Oceanic Survey, The National Weather Service, The National Fisheries Service, The Environmental Research Laboratories, The Environmental Data Service, The Environmental Satellite Service, The Office of Sea Grant, and The Office of Coastal Zone Management. NOAA has been threatened with extinction in the spring of 1995 with the possible dissolution of the Department of Commerce under the guise of "necessary" budget cuts. [Encyclopedia America; v19: page 765; 1993.] [Audubon; v88: pages 36-39; 1986.]