[MPWG] NOTES: Summary of July 13th PCA Meeting

[Plant Conservation]

For an easier to read format, the notes will be added to the website soon
at http://www.nps.gov/plants/summary.htm

Olivia
CPC/PCA
http://www.nps.gov/plants/

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Notes from PCA General Meeting
13 July 2005
NatureServe, Rosslyn, Va.
(Notes taken by P. De Angelis)

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PCA Chair - Peggy Olwell (BLM) began meeting with introductions.
Sign-up sheet passed around.

New (or recently returning) participants
- Amy Brush (Tai Sophia Institute)
- Cliff Duke (ESA)
- Florence Caplow (Washington Natural Heritage Program)
- Kat Maybury (NatureServe)
- Jessica Strother (Fairfax County Dept. Public Works & Environmental
Svcs)
- Larry Stritch (USDA-FS)
- Kim Winter (NAPPC)
- John Ziagos (Dept. of Energy (DOE), Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory)
- Inhi Hong (DOI, Ofc. of Surface Mining (OSM))

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Events

Sara Tangren (Chesapeake Native Nursery): Native Wildflower Farm Tour and
Picnic/Bonfire (July 16, 2005; 3pm; Takoma Park MD) with Maryland Native
Plant Society (MNPS) and Botanical Society of Washington (BSW); bring a
dish and BYOB! Directions & map: www.chesapeakenatives.com

Kathryn Kennedy (Center for Plant Conservation (CPC):	Aveda's Earth
Month Campaign- Presentation of signatures (July 20, 2005, 10am-press
conference; Washington DC); Cannon Terrace House Office Bldg
http://aveda.aveda.com/protect/you/earthmonthpartners.asp

Cliff Duke (Ecological Society of America): Ecology in an era of
globalization: Challenges and Opportunities for environmental scientists
in the Americas (January 8-12, 2006; Mérida, Mexico); www.esa.org/mexico

Jil Swearingen (National Park Service): Invasive Plants: Perspectives,
Prescriptions and Partnerships (August 16-17; Philadelphia PA);
Mid-Atlantic Invasive Plant Conference at Morris Arboretum; info:
215-247-5777, ext. 156 or 125; e-mail at jlm at pobox.upenn.edu; download
brochure at www.ma-eppc.org

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Announcements

Larry Stritch (USDA-FS): Has returned as National Botanist for Forest
Service (about 1 month ago).
- The FS Native Plant Materials Policy has been cleared by FS, is being
cleared by USDA and will then go to OMB to determine whether an economic
impact assessment is needed. If none needed, estimate that the policy will
be published as an interim rule for public comment by August 2005.

Sara Tangren (Chesapeake Native Nursery): Received funding from MNPS,
Maryland State Highway Administration and University of Maryland to do a
project that will use natives to prevent soil erosion. Also may be
receiving grant from NRCS; have heard that made the final round of
reviews.

Peggy Olwell (BLM): Peggy has been selected as the lead for a new BLM
Plant Conservation Program. This will include the Native Plant Materials
Development (NPMD) efforts and continued work on endangered plants. Peggy
has met with others to explore their participation in developing this
program. Favorable reception from Scott Fredericks, others at EPA. John
Ziagos is here to explore adding Lawrence Livermore National as
Cooperator. Met with the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) 2 weeks
ago and they want to be involved. Bob Eschemann (NRCS) was also there. The
American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta (AABGA) is also
excited about and interested in this effort.

Kathryn Kennedy (Center for Plant Conservation): CPC has put together an
invasive plant web directory - State-by-State Invasive Webportal, with
topical issues about invasives nationwide, including a link to the St.
Louis Declaration and the Voluntary Codes of Conduct for government,
nursery professionals, gardening public, landscape architects, and botanic
gardens and arboreta- www.mobot.org/invasives -
www.centerforplantconservation/invasives. NatureServe asked if there could
be a link to their species assessments. Kathryn welcomes this and any
other links that folks are aware of.

Inhi Hong (DOI, OSM): Kentucky - tried restoring land with native chestnut
trees; will look for citation

Scott Fredericks (EPA): Journal of Environmental Ecology - Vol. 3/4-
Jan-Feb 2005/no. 1 - Restoration project using designer compost originally
designed for coal sites; Copies or the weblink can be obtained by
contacting Scott Fredericks, (5202-G); Environmental Response Team; Office
of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation; P: (703) 603-8771; F:
(703) 603-9133; C: (703) 989-2801

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Vernal Pool Endemic Plants Discussion

Kat Maybury (NatureServe) and Florence Caplow (Washington Natural Heritage
Program) - Vernal Pool Endemic Plants - A recent conference in Washington
in March - Canadian and Pacific Northwest attendees (Kat has full list).

Vernal pool habitat is sprinkled along the west coast and disjunct into
Washington. The Washington vernal pools are less diverse than the
California ones - they have a subset of the California vernal pool flora.
Nonetheless, they harbor rare plants. NatureServe just completed the first
of a 2-year Environmental Protection Agency project to look at isolated
wetlands, which included vernal pools, and it is unlikely that the pools
will get protection under the Clean Water Act.

Natural Heritage status of vernal pool endemics may not reflect actual
rarity: Until recently, vernal pools were not a big focus in Washington.
More and more vernal pool species are being added to the rare plant list.
Vernal pool habitat is generally considered to be an imperiled system and
many rare plants are vernal pool obligates, yet many of these plants are
ranked as globally secure by Natural Heritage programs (G4s or G5s in the
NatureServe database). This is partially a reflection of lack of
information and the multi-jurisdictional nature of the problem.

Global ranks: There are many projects to focus on species ranked between
G1-G3, but little attention is given to species that are ranked as
globally secure. This is partially a reflection of the fact that, if they
are secure, nothing needs to be done, but is also due to lack of funds and
time. NatureServe tries to review the conservation status of G1-G3 once
every 5 years. Some of the vernal pool species were ranked more than a
decade ago. There is a good chance they have not been looked at since
then. NatureServe is trying to pull together resources to take a second
look at them.

Is PCA (i.e. BLM, EPA) concerned about this issue?
Yes. There are vernal pools on BLM land and Forest Service (esp. in
California). According to Larry Morse (Nature Serve), there are many
similar habitats in the East, but the species seem to be
better-appreciated here than in the West. Prairie potholes are also
similar but there is little endemism. All the same, Kathryn Kennedy states
that CPC is concerned about prairie pothole habitat. The Army Corps of
Engineers has a significant amount of prairie acreage. The Environmental
Lab, ERDC, is conducting prairie research and presently writing a series
of tech notes on this. Eventually, if this continues to get funded, we
intend to look at the prairie potholes.

A primary threat to vernal pool habitat is housing developments; is this
the case elsewhere in the West?
Housing is less of a threat in Washington, where vernal pools occur
primarily on grazing land (BLM land). According to BLM botanist Pam Camp,
limited studies show that grazing really decimates these pools. In Oregon
Oregon has vernal pools in the East and in the West; the western ones are
subject to the same pressures as in California.

Discussed possibility of submitting a NFWF proposal. NFWF pre-proposals
only a bare bones overview of what project is all about, if accepted,
invite full proposals. Concern about 1:1 nonfederal match.

Will convene a face-to-face meeting next week when both Kathryn Kennedy
and Emily Roberson (California Native Plant Society) will be in town. Mtg
to include: Kat; Larry; Kathryn; Peggy; Pam (by phone). Anyone else
interested in participating in this meeting, let Olivia know.

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Update on Committee Activities

-Alien Plant Working Group (Jil Swearingen - NPS)
  - More fact sheets on the way; new poster was discussed at last PCA
meeting.

-Medicinal Plant Working Group (Patricia De Angelis - USFWS)
  - Introduced Amy Brush, a Masters student in Clinical Herbalism at Tai
Sophia, who will update content on MPWG's homepage!
  - Organized two briefings in April with the National Network of Forest
Practitioners (NNFP; www.nnfp.org), as part of their "Week in Washington."
One session was with US FWS and the other with PCA.
    - Summary of US FWS Briefing: In the eight years that NNFP has held
their annual Week in Washington, this year marked the first time that they
received a formal briefing from US FWS. Thirteen US FWS employees, from 7
divisions and 10 programs, demonstrated the broad range of US FWS efforts
to address issues relating to plant conservation: namely, invasives,
landowner outreach, and Tribal participation in natural resource
management. Nearly half of NNFP's 28-person Washington delegation attended
this meeting.
    - Summary of PCA Briefing: Held at the US Botanic Garden with talks by
Holly Shimizu (USBG Director), Peggy Olwell (PCA), Olivia Kwong (CPC),
Patricia De Angelis (MPWG). Attended 11 NNFP members, including several
native Americans. Discussions included using local traditional knowledge
to define conservation status of species while protecting cultural
knowledge.
  - Peggy and Patricia met with Tribal Liaisons of BLM and US FWS to
explore DOI resources for better coordination with Native Americans on
natural resource issues (including conservation status, traditional land
management practices that promote diversity, etc.).
  - Several projects identified but prevented by time constraints on part
of MPWG Chair.
  - J. Ziagos recommended contacting Steven Grey, head of the Federal
Communications Commission's (FCC) Navajo Nation Telecommunications
Regulatory Commission and Director for Indian Affairs in DOE's Office of
Tribal Affairs to liaise with for Native American Tribes (which includes
638 members). Each year, Diné College (Arizona) sends students from Navajo
Nation to work for various agencies.
  - Compiled newsletter to MPWG Committee Chairs: Topics covered include:
    - Collaborating with the IUCN-SSC-Medicinal Plant Specialist Group to
update Medicinal Plant Fact Sheets that will include a conservation
perspective
    - Introduction of Jolie Lonner, volunteer Medicinal Plant Fact Sheet
Coordinator
    - Plans to update our list of medicinal plants native to the U.S.:
Indicators of Rarity and Threat
(http:??www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal/pubs/2001table.htm) - volunteer will
be sought to coordinate this effort
    - Introduction of Amy Brush, who will update the homepage (mentioned
above)
    - Practitioner perspectives on medicinals - another volunteer activity
to be conducted by Dr. David Kiefer and his students
    - Development of funding website with potential opportunities for
medicinals
    - For more details, contact Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov.
- MPWG may be selected as a Case Study for the US FWS Step Up to
Leadership program, in which a 6-person team evaluates a Natural Resource
topic from the perspective of leadership, partnership, vision , political
savvy and strategic thinking.

-Native Plant Materials Development (Peggy Olwell - BLM)
  - Peggy Olwell is reviewing the NPMD program and in her preliminary
review sees a place at the table for more federal participation. She is
coordinating with FS and NPS. Will plan a future PCA meeting to focus on
the NPMD program.
  - Discussed potential of getting a new interagency report to Congress
before budget time (with accomplishments, etc.). All PCA agencies should
be involved.
  - Forest Service NPMD money also comes from fire. FS produces a
Congressional report each year. [UPDATE: The FS report was never
finalized, so there is no document to distribute] BLM did not do an
accomplishments report last year.
  - Action items:
    - Peggy is planning to contact the invasives folks to more fully
engage with them on restoration after invasive removals
    - Contact with the National Seed Laboratory (formerly Nation Seed Tree
lab), directed by Bob Karrfelt, who is looking to partner with folks

-National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (Ellen Lippincott - NFWF)
  - Pre-proposals due Aug. 15 - provide bare bones overview of what
project is all about; Sept. 30 - full proposal
  - NFWF - Ellen - pre-props etc - NPCI grants - 40 to choose from; 19
projects approved in first round; intg grp projects - $371, 518 to the
projects in first round

-Public Outreach (Not in attendance)

-Restoration Working Group (Not in attendance)

-MOU (Peggy)
  - Important for all agencies to re-sign MOU. Not too late! Peggy will
give briefings and/or briefing books upon request.
  - Briefed EPA recently and hoping they are closer to signing
  - Ofc Surface Mining - still interested in signing

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North American Pollinator Protection Campaign & PCA: A Perfect Fit!
-Kim Winter, Coordinator (NAPPC)

Kim became Coordinator of NAPPC last year. Her graduate studies were in
Environmental Anthropology from University of Georgia.

NAPPC's membership includes primarily plant ecologists, but there are also
experts on bats, managed honeybees and native bees

Why is pollination important?
- Plant reproduction Seed set
- Fruit development
  - Pollinators are important for seed set and fruit production
  - 80% of plants in world pollinated by animals - only 20% by wind
  - pawpaw - bee and fly pollinated
  - apples - if properly pollinated, the fruit will be symmetrical and, if
sliced in cross-section through the middle, you should find ten seeds
- Ecosystem health & biodiversity Plants + Animals = food web recent
research in California on watermelon fields with a "rough" (natural area)
around them showed better number and size of melons than those without;
suggested that using 5% of your land area as a rough, even if you have to
take some land out of production, will result in greater production.
Question is, to what extent are these results applicable to other
agricultural products, other ecosystems, etc. Kim will look for citation.

Human dependency on products of pollination Foods
- Fibers
- Pharmaceuticals
- Oils
  - food production: USDA estimates that $10 billion of our food is owed
to pollinators; if you include forage fed to animals (alfalfa), the annual
agricultural revenues are estimated at $40 billion

Causes of pollinator decline
- Habitat destruction & fragmentation Development activities
- Agriculture (monocultures, pesticides)
  - habitat destruction/degradation - reduces food availability and
nesting sites
- Misuse and overuse of pesticides
  - home use is greater than companies
- Per P. Olwell: newspaper article about blueberry farm in Maine that will
stop aerial spraying - will look for citation
- Competition from invasive species
  - including competition from non-native pollinators and plants
- New diseases and parasites
  - Varroa mite, a parasite from Asia that parasitizes honeybees
(http://www.uoguelph.ca/~inesp/news/news.html), is negatively affecting
almond crops in California
(http://www.enviroag.org/Headline%20News/beeshortageimpactspollination.htm
- Lack of public awareness/support
  - Per S. Tangren - Many new commercials show all bugs as "bad"
  - NAPPC tries to produce outreach material that helps people better
understand that all bugs are not bad

Implications of decline in pollinating species: Breakdown of
co-evolutionary processes
- Less visitation by pollinators
  - less visitation can decrease productivity of land
- Lower plant abundance
- Ecosystem degradation / Loss of biodiversity

What is the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC)?
- (Some) NAPPC Partners tri-national
  - Can, US, Mex
  - 80+ participating organizations
  - Conduct Working Meetings (by invitation only): Annual meetings in US;
first Canadian Regional Mtg will be in Spring 2006; first Mexican regional
meeting will be in Fall 2006
- What does NAPPC do?
  - Compiles cross-disciplinary research & information for synthesis &
distribution to appropriate audiences.
  - Serves as a networking and information resource for issues affecting
pollinators (Pollinator Listserv).
  - Reviews gov't. & international policies to ensure that pollinators are
considered.
  - Develops strategies & forms task forces and committees to affect
collaborative, balanced change.
  - Science-based, inclusive, and action-oriented.
- NAPPC Committees
  - Working & Wild Land Conservation
  - Garden & Urban Habitat Conservation
  - Consumer Outreach
  - Policies & Practices
  - Partnerships (Corporate, Gov't & NGO) and Advancement
  - Research
- Task Forces
  - International Expansion (Canada, Mexico)
  - Bee importation issues (B. terrestris white paper)
  - EPA (Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program)
  - Data collection (Research Protocols)
  - Food consumer outreach
  - 4-H curriculum
  - Farm bill input and state conservation input
  - Land Managers (provide pollinator-friendly info to federal land
managers to consider in land mgmt plans - if restore plants, you may need
to restore restore pollinators

NAPPC Successes in Progress

- National Academy of Sciences study: "Status of Pollinators: Monitoring &
Prevention of their Decline in North America"
  - National Academy of Sciences will conduct study: Status of
Pollinators: Monitoring and Prevention of their Decline in N America; lots
of anecdotal info but no hard evidence - baseline info needed - study
should be done next year
- MOU with the US Department of Agriculture - Forest Service
- MOUs in progress with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serve, Bureau of Land
Management, National Gardening Association
- Awarded 2005 EPA Pesticide & Environmental Stewardship Program
"Champion"
- Commemorative Stamp series: (U.S., Mexico, and Canada)
- White paper on the potential consequences of Bombus terrestris
importation
- Restoring pollinator function in agricultural ecosystems: (NCEAS -
Nat.Ctr. for Ecol. Analysis & Synthesis)
  - Restoring pollinator fxn on agrtal land - study funded by National
Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (Claire Kremen/Neil Williams)
- showed that agricultural land near a native area almost doesn't need
services of managed pollinators vs. more degraded managed landscape which
almost can't survive w/o bringing in managed honeybees
- NBII (Nat. Bio. Info. Infrastructure) Pollinator Website
  - National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) Pollinator
Website - Ecological Society of America will develop for NBII and will
look to NAPPC for input

NAPPC Accomplishments
- U.S. Botanic Garden pollinator exhibits (2004) : "The Great Pollination
Partnership" (700 visitors/day)
  - The exhibit will start traveling to other gardens; incl. Denver
Botanic Garden
- Represented N. American pollinators at International Pollinator
Initiative (FAO-United Nations)
- Raised the profile of pollinator issues at the Federal level: Dear
Colleague letters; Congressional & Inter-agency Briefings
  - Providing information to food outlets, etc. that they can incorporate
into consumer outreach
  - Outreach to farmers/layperson and how it will affect pollinators
  - Submit questions to pesticide applicator exams
- Comments during review period for NRCS Farm Bill
  - To ensure that pollinators are considered
- NRCS MT Native Plants for Pollinator-Friendly Plantings brochure -
pushing to replicate in all states
  - Download a copy at:
http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/technical/ecs/plants/pollinator/
  - NRCS developing a database for plant-pollinator interactions
- Created NAPPC-Wildlife Habitat Council Award for Pollinator-Friendly
Corporations.
  - See http://www.wildlifehc.org/pollinatorpractices/award.cfm
- Established NAPPC website (www.nappc.org)
  - Tri-lingual (English, French, Spanish)
  - Developing Eastern native bee - online guide
  - Partnering with green rooftop
  - Draft Pollinator Fact Sheets -ready for review; wants input on format,
content, target audience

NAPPC Needs You!
- Partnership in NAPPC
  - Interested in developing MOU with PCA
- Joint projects to investigate & promote pollinators
- Expert advice for developing content & reaching appropriate audience
- Collaboration to reach broader audiences with pollinator-related
information
  - Use PCA connections to 250+ partners (Native plant folks etc) and vice
versa
- Networking

Current Projects
- Native Plant-Pollinator Bibliography - Center for Plant Conservation
(Mo. Bot. Garden)
  - Will be weblinked to PCA, NAPPC and CPC
- Pollinator Fact Sheets - Topics, content, development
  - Pollinator fact sheets - potential to collaborate (i.e. medicinal
plant fact sheets). If we are looking at a plant, tell Kim which plant,
target audience and she will research pollinator issues
- NAPPC Task Force & Committees
  - Working & Wild Land Conservation
  - Garden & Urban Habitat Conservation
  - Research
  - Land Managers
  - Farm Bill

The address for the Pollinator listserve is:
http://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/pollinator
Website (currently under construction): www.nappc.org
E-mail: nappc at coevolution.org

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Closing Remarks

Green Roof (www.greenroofs.org):
- Peggy will explore having PCA meeting with Green Roof folks; Strother
has contact person;
- Green Roof display at USBG; USBG exploring getting a green roof over
USBG looking to have green roof;
- Chicago - new buildings need to consider green roof
- Green Roof - National Conference in Boston MA - May 10-12, 2006 (see
website above)

Meeting adjourned.