1. That which had been gathered under programs funded by various government agencies.
2. That which had been gathered for private companies by NSRFC while under contract to these companies.

The public agencies who had provided funds for the collection of the data naturally assumed that an organization like NSRFC would be making the information publicly available.
The private companies who had paid for such data to be gathered expected their data to be held in confidence, unless they gave permission for its release.
NSRFC was not, by handing data over to the Department of Natural Resources, giving that department any property which was in any sense "owned" by the NSRFC. The mechanics of the transfer (and any interpretative work on the data) were tasks which could readily have been let by the Dept of Natural Resources to a private-industry contractor.