Leading Republicans have attacked plans by the Smithsonian Institution to close its Conservation Research Center (CRC) at Front Royal, Virginia (see Nature 410, 727; 2001).

Congressman Frank Wolf (Republican, Virginia), a member of the House Appropriations Committee which controls the government's share of the Smithsonian budget, said: “I am extremely disappointed and angry with the Smithsonian. This decision — and the way it has been announced — is shortsighted and ill-advised.”

Senator John Warner (Republican, Virginia), who visited the facility on 21 April, said the closure “does not reflect a consensus of views in the research community”.

In a letter to the Smithsonian's secretary Larry Small, Sherwood Boehlert (Republican, New York), chairman of the House Science Committee, said: “To close the CRC or curb its capabilities would be a blow to the Smithsonian and its reputation, as well as to the nation and the world.”

The closure will be considered on 7 May by the Smithsonian's governing board. It must then be approved by Congress, where influential members favour the centre's continued operation.

At a meeting with 500 museum staff on 17 April, Small discussed the Smithsonian's need to refurbish buildings as part of a proposed reorganization. But he did not detail any cuts in research programmes.

The Smithsonian has rejected plans from the Fish and Wildlife Service for joint management of the centre. But last week National Zoo director Lucy Spelman seemed to retract her earlier firm announcement of its closure. Chris Wemmer, the centre's associate director, says she referred to it as only a proposal.