[MPWG] Article about Medicinals & other PNW NTFPs

[Trish Flaster]

I am enjoying the conversation. I would hope that someoneb can write to the editors a positive note about the harvesters and the issues and get them to seek out reputable sources of information for other articles
Trish
Trish Flaster 
Botanical Liaisons, LLC
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-----Original Message-----
From: Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2006 11:54:44 
To:mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org
Cc:Laury_Parramore at fws.gov
Subject: Re: [MPWG] Article about Medicinals & other PNW NTFPs

I appreciate that Eric pointed out the negative stereotypes being depicted in the Seattle Times article, A war in the woods (June 6, 2006).  Newspapers are a major method of information dissemination in the United States and the general populace (including members from the entire range of medicinal plant working group stakeholders) get its information there.  It's important for us to be critical thinkers, whether the material is from the popular press or peer-reviewed material.   
What caught my eye was that the plight of legitimate harvesters being robbed is making the headlines.  In the Appalachians, I've heard from harvesters and law enforcement, alike, that it's difficult to protect the livelihood of legitimate harvesters/growers (including folks who have harvested for generations as well as newcomers on the scene that are promoting a stewardship ethic) because legal authorities often do not comprehend the weight of the problem - with regard to livelihood or resource sustainability - and because plants are generally undervalued.   
 
What does this have to do with sustainable use and conservation?  A lot.  One unethical harvester can ruin the good work of many - the good stewards lose, the plants lose, we all lose.   
 
-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> 
 
Eric T Jones <etj-list at ifcae.org>  wrote: 
 
Why don't you try reading reputable research rather than this rubbish.  I could take apart most of the major claims but it really isn't worth my time.  For example, "specialty forest products....were once a low class sideshow."  Well, actually, salal has been harvested on the Olympic Peninsula since the 1930s and has been a big employer of many people, especially women who were historically excluded from the few other types of available work in that area like logging.  Also, that statement is classist and urban centric, but then so is most of the modern environmental movement.  It's much easier to rip on the poor and powerless and turn a blind eye to the massive amounts of chemicals that are used on salal by private industry.  Or when they don't use chemicals they scoop it into the slash piles and burn it along with the moss, ferns, and dozens of medicinal plants.  Harvesters are a spit in the bucket compared to what the big timber companies are doing and will continue as long as the people on this list continue to pretend that they are somehow saving special forest products (aka nontimber forest products) from destruction by stopping the harvest.  Stop reading this poorly researched media and try getting out in the woods and see what is really going on, you might be shocked.  Lastly, if you are really interested in understanding the salal industry please write me for scientific references.
 
 Eric T Jones, Ph.D.
 Ecological Anthropologist
 Institute for Culture and Ecology (501c3)
 Post Office Box 6688
 Portland, Oregon 97228-6688.  USA
 Telephone:  503-331-6681
 E-Mail:  etjones at ifcae.org
 Website:  www.ifcae.org 
 
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