[MPWG] About last week's PCA Cooperator's Meeting...

Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Tue Nov 15 10:07:30 CST 2005


By now, all of you should know that there was a PCA Cooperator's Meeting
that was held last week in St. Louis, Mo.  I wanted to take a moment to....

...thank everyone from MPWG who attended the meeting!  Not only was I
thrilled at the MPWG turnout but I was excited to meet many of you for the
first time.
...pass along the message below that was posted to the main PCA website
from a fellow attendee.

I hope everyone else was as energized as I was to be there, to meet
like-minded folks, and to discuss ways to move PCA forward as a group.  I'm
sure a summary of the meeting will be posted soon.  Keep an eye out!

-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>

----- Forwarded by Patricia De Angelis/ARL/R9/FWS/DOI on 11/15/2005 10:52
AM -----
                                                                           
             "Rob Fiegener"                                                
             <rob at nativeseedne                                             
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                                       [PCA] Meeting follow-up             
             11/14/2005 09:02                                              
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Dear Plant Conservation Allies:

Thank you for a great meeting in St. Louis last week.  I enjoyed meeting
many of you and learning about this alliance we're all part of.  Many
thanks to the people from the Center for Plant Conservation for organizing
and hosting the event.  I would like to share a few of my impressions from
the meeting, and invite discussion.

My overriding impression is that PCA represents an opportunity.  PCA is
about a coordinated national approach to plant conservation, yet it appears
that the majority of PCA cooperators go about their work independently,
without reference to or awareness of the national framework represented by
the PCA.

PCA is exceptionally well poised to be an effective force, with very
significant building blocks already in place:
 - the National Framework for Progress, with clearly identified strategies
and goals, and 240+ non-governmental signatories
 - the Federal Native Plant Conservation MOU, with 10 federal agency
signatories
 - One paid staff position

What does PCA require?  In my opinion, the development of a community.  PCA
does not have a strong identity that its cooperators associate with.  While
we all believe in and support the objectives of PCA, PCA itself does not
figure prominently or explicitly in the work we do.  Cooperators are
effectively working towards the goals outlined in the PCA Framework, but
without awareness of the greater context in which our work is happening.

It appears that forging a stronger Alliance offers two principal benefits:
 (1) more effective, synergistic conservation work
     and
 (2) a strong voice that can be a powerful advocate for native plants and
plant conservation.

I heard excellent suggestions for building the profile of PCA and
developing into an organization that members identify with, think of, and
contribute to.  Among the suggestions were more frequent communications
(list-serv, publications), workshops and meetings (annually), and
recognition of cooperators with awards.

Finally, it occurs to me that the greatest threat to the success of PCA is
inactivity.  The meeting in St. Louis has provided an infusion of energy
into PCA; it is now our responsibility to carry it forward, if we find it
worthwhile.


~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~
Rob Fiegener
Native Seed Network
Institute for Applied Ecology
541.753.3099
rob at nativeseednetwork.org
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