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funding of $300,000 in FY 1982.  If obtained, the program is projected to grow by FY 1986 to about $500,000, a level which is considered adequate to meet the Institution's award needs.

[[underlined]] Museum Support Center Equipment. [[/underlined]] Much of the equipment, especially the collections storage system, has to be ordered and fabricated well in advance to coincide with institutional occupancy of the building in FY 1983. The systems selected for purchase and installation at the Suitland facility provide efficient high-density storage on three, eight-foot-high storage levels, similar to multi-story library stacks. This system uses fixed, self-supporting metal racks and cabinets that can hold a variety of cases, shelves, and drawers, as needed, to meet the specific requirements of each of the collections. The equipping plan calls for obtaining about one-half of the storage equipment over the period FY 1981-85. Total equipment costs, including storage systems and other items, through FY 1985 are projected to be about $16,800,000 with storage systems representing $11,600,000 of this figure. To being to meet equipment needs, an appropriated amount of $2,311,000 was requested from Congress in FY 1981, in addition to $400,000 already present in the Museum of Natural HIstory's base for these purposes. In FY 1982, an additional $1,784,000 is being sought, bringing the funding level to about $4,495,000 in that year and in FY 1983. Federal appropriations for equipment are expected to begin to decline after FY 1983 and stabilize at about $1,300,000 in FY 1986. To help fund the $16,800,000 equipment requirements, the Institution expects to allocate about $750,000 in trust funds for specialized conservation equipment in future years, and to redirect current rental funds for the Oceanographic Sorting Center (which is to be one occupant of the Suitland facility) to equipment needs during the planning period beginning with FY 1983.

Future year annual operating expenses are estimated to approximate $4,400,000 by FY 1986. About $2,800,000 will be required annually for plant operation and maintenance and repairs, utilities, protection services, and grounds maintenance. Also by this time, an annual amount of approximately $1,650,000 will be required to staff and operate the Conservation Training Center and the collections work associated with the Natural History Museum. These operating requirements are being phased in as appropriate beginning with FY 1981. Most of the staffing and resource increases are to be sough in FY 1983, along with a large portion of the required expenses associated with moving the collections. Operating projections appear for the individual bureaus and organizations in the appropriate chapters of this document. These projections also are summarized (for both equipment and operations) in Table 13.

[[underlined]] Major Exhibitions Program. [[/underlined]] Prior to and during the Bicentennial Year, the Institution maintained a separate major exhibits program. Funded by Congress for specific, carefully planned exhibitions whose costs were over and beyond that which could be financed by normal base resources, this program permitted coordinated planning, collection and display activities devoted to timely topics of particular visitor interest. Many of the exhibitions so funded are still open to the public and occupy a large portion of exhibit space. Following the Bicentennial, however, this program was phased out and its funding was rejustified and redirected to other programs, especially