[MPWG] Membership Matters - July 2005

Mon Jul 11 12:15:03 CDT 2005

Dear MPWG Members,

We're halfway through 2005 and we have several updates to report.  Read on!

In this e-mail….

      Welcome New Members – Tell me who you are!
      Member Networking – Send us your contact information for the MPWG
      e-directory!
      Using the Listserve – Accessing the archives
      MPWG Committees – MPWG-Conservation Committee field projects have
      begun!
      MPWG Website - New  search function!

If you have any questions or comments, please e-mail me at:
<Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov>.

Thanks!
Patricia

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority
Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group
US Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 750
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276
Working for the conservation and sustainable use of our green natural
resources.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>
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MPWG: Membership Matters - July 2005
News and information for Medicinal Plant Working Group (MPWG) Listserve
Members
......from the MPWG Chair

Welcome New Members!
-Tell me who you are

As of today, we have 315 members - that's 40 new folks since the beginning
   of the year!  Drop me a line at
<Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov> to let me know more about you, your interest
   in medicinal plants, and your expectations in joining the MPWG
   listserve.

All members are reminded to review the Listserve Posting Guidelines at <
   http://www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal/mpwglist.htm>.

Member Networking
-Send us your contact information for the MPWG e-Directory

We want to create an electronic directory so that MPWG members can find
each other more easily.   The more people who respond - and the more
information you provide - the more powerful this directory will be!  To see
an example of how such a directory will work, see: <
http://www.ser.org/work.php?pg=restorationexpertise> and click on "search
the directory."

See the list of requested fields below.  SEND YOUR INFORMATION to
<plant at plantconservation.org>!  Please provide at least your name, mailing
address, and your e-mail information.  All other information is optional.

> title
> name **
> tribal or other affiliation/institution
> job position
> department
> mailing address ** (please provide at least the city and state that you
live in)
> telephone number
> cellular phone number
> e-mail address**
> fax number
> website
> languages spoken
> educational information (i.e. institution name, degrees)
> associations (include positions, if any)
> publications
> expertise and specialties
> medicinal plant interests
> MPWG Committee involvement (conservation, sustainable production,
industry, Elder's circle, ethnobotany, finance)
> other PCA affiliations – i.e. Alien Plant Working Group, Restoration
Working Group

Using the Listserve
-Accessing the listserve archives

You can access messages posted to the listserve within the last 1 1/2
years!  The messages are organized by month and then you can search by
thread, subject, author, or date.  Go to: <
http://cpanel.wispme.com/pipermail/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org/>.

For instance, you can view two previous "Membership Matters" newsletters by
looking in the February 2005 and the June 2004 folders.  Once you are in
the appropriate month, choose "Subject," which will give you an
alphabetical listing by subject matter, and scroll down to the "M's."

MPWG Committees
-MPWG-Conservation Committee Field Projects have begun!

Since 2000, the MPWG-Conservation Committee has conducted field projects on
public land that utilize federal site leaders and non-federal volunteers to
inventory medicinal plants in the wild and monitor the effect of varying
harvest levels.  These projects focus on plants that are primarily or
exclusively wild-harvested for the medicinal plant trade.  Over the years,
we have looked at ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and goldenseal (Hydrastis
canadensis), and we continue to monitor black cohosh (Cimicifuga (=Actaea)
racemosa), and osha (Ligusticum porteri) populations.

Projects have been conducted (in the Shenandoah National Park (Virginia),
the Monongahela National Forest (West Virginia), and we have ongoing
projects on the Rio Grande National Forest (Colorado), the George
Washington/Jefferson National Forest (Virginia), and the Pisgah and
Nantahala National Forests (North Carolina).

Overseen by a federal site leader (either USDA-Forest Service or National
Park Service), these projects are designed so that volunteers can
participate in activities that contribute to the sustainable use and
conservation of important medicinal plants on public lands.  The Garden
Club of America (GCA) has coordinated the majority of our volunteer base
since the inception of these projects.

For the first time this year, I was able to attend one of our projects - a
new site on the George Washington/Jefferson National Forest, in Virginia,
called Reddish Knob, to focus on black cohosh.  Black cohosh roots are
wild-harvested for use in alleviating menopausal symptoms.

Led by Dr. James Chamberlain, USDA-Forest Service, Southern Research
Station, the 2.5 day field work was conducted by a small group - just six
of us in total!   We inventoried a hardy population of black cohosh in
twelve 2 x 45 m plots.  We recorded the coordinates of every black cohosh
plant within the plot and recorded such information as height to first
branch, overall height and noted whether or not the plant was flowering.
Each of four plots was randomly subjected to a different treatment - four
plots were left as controls, four were harvested at 33% and four were
harvested at 66%.  Some of the harvested material wil be analyzed for
phytochemical content and the remainder will be replanted and monitored for
regrowth.  The wild plots will be monitored for at least three years.

****MPWG has six active committees: Conservation, Ethnobotany, Finance,
Sustainable Production, The Elder's Circle, and the Industry Committee.
See <http://www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal/workinggroup.htm> for more
information.****

THERE WILL BE SEVERAL OTHER PROJECTS THIS YEAR AND NEW VOLUNTEERS ARE
WELCOME!  See the full list of projects and summaries from previous years
at: <http://www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal/index.htm>.  Contact the GCA
coordinator if you are interested in attending!

MPWG Website
-New  search function!

Thanks to our illustrious webwoman (!), we have a new search function for
our website!  This function you to search on the content on the MPWG
website, our sister websites (i.e., Alien Plant Working Group), or the
entire Plant Conservation Alliance website.   Give it a try!