[pbs] Fwd: Importation of Plants - Proposed rule - Request for Guidance
Tony Avent
tony at plantdelights.com
Mon Jul 27 08:24:25 EDT 2009
Jim:
Joyce Fingerut of the North American Rock Garden Society has been our
point person for the hobbyist gardener, and the one responsible for
getting the Small Seed Permit instituted. Her email is
alpinegarden at COMCAST.NET
There are a number of problem people in this debate...well meaning, but
with a mystical idea that nature should always remain a Camelot...a
pristine idealic static place that never really existed. We (all
parties to the debate) originally all met back in 2001 for a meeting
known as the St. Louis Summit, where we came up with a voluntary code of
conduct. I tried to make the point that invasive species must be
monitored on a local level. My proposal was to use trained master
gardeners to monitor if a plant was becoming a problem in a region and
subsequently use the media to let folks know that the plant was a
problem in that region and should not be planted. Free market forces
would then eliminate the demand in that area and the plant would
subsequently disappear from production. There still may be an
occasional case for government preemption, when good science deems it
necessary (we currently have a Federal Noxious Weed Law which is more
than adequate).
About 10 years ago, I heard about a closed meeting in Chicago with the
eco-nazis and USDA-Aphis. I showed up, uninvited just as a discussion
was concluding to ban all plants that were invasive in any part of the
US from the entire US. I asked Dr. Reichard if this indeed was her
intent, to which she replied, yes. Can you imagine what would happen if
this had occurred and every plant that invades in Florida, Hawaii, or
California were banned from the entire country? Any new regulations
must allow plants like water hyacinth, lantana, and impatiens to be
grown and produced in areas where it is not winter hardy while not in
areas where it can choke out waterways.
As with everything, the devil is in the details and the current plants
are to use a screening model such as devised by Dr. Sarah Reichard. Her
model includes many factors including plant families that have weeds as
members, the propensity to reseed in the wild, whether the seed coat is
desirable to wildlife, etc. Such groups as the Nature Conservancy have
conclucded that the only acceptable control of potential exotic weeds is
exclusion....we must effectively shut the horticultural border under a
guilty until proven innocent philosophy. The dollars that they cite
spent on controlling /costs incurred by exotic pests is staggering (5%
of the worlds GDP) until you realize that it includes everyone who uses
a pesticide to kill cockroaches or crabgrass. I am including a link to
the Nature Conservancy's Position paper on Invasive plants...pay
particular attention to page 2...if this doesn't scare you to death,
you're not a gardener.
http://www.nature.org/initiatives/forests/files/ounceofpreventionsingle1.pdf
USDA Aphis is now accepting public comments, so please do so as well as
call you Congressional representatives.
Tony Avent
Plant Delights Nursery @
Juniper Level Botanic Garden
9241 Sauls Road
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603 USA
Minimum Winter Temps 0-5 F
Maximum Summer Temps 95-105F
USDA Hardiness Zone 7b
email tony at plantdelights.com
website http://www.plantdelights.com
phone 919 772-4794
fax 919 772-4752
"I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times" - Avent
James Waddick wrote:
>> I hope you will read the Nature Conservancy's position paper posted all
>> over the Internet...I have also been a member in the past. This is
>> truly frightening.
>>
>
> Dear Tony,
>
> I suspect you are the most knowledgeable member on this new
> "Proposed Rule".
>
> Would you be willing to put down in a few simple words and
> sentences what you think this Rule might result in and then
>
> Who exactly (name, title email or postal address) we could contact,
>
> What topics might be of greatest importance to bring up and,
>
> When the deadline is for contacting the responsible agency(-ies) ???
>
> Has the agency proposing this already incorporated everything
> in Hortus, specialty seed list, etc
>
> Will this list be by family, or genus, or species or down to cv?
>
> I'll certainly try to marshal some effort if I had a direct
> contact to inform of my concerns.
>
>
> Thanks Jim W.
>
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