[MPWG] White list & invasive plants issues...

Mon Oct 25 12:50:25 CDT 2010

Hi Ed
There is really no good defintion of what a "native" plant is. Native to where? Mexico or Texas?
Minnesota or Canada? Northern PA or southern PA? CA or NY? The mountains of NC or the outer banks? This is a big country with lots of different ecosystems that differ as radically from each other as Asian ecosystems do from ours. Native since when? since the glaciers moved stuff around? Since Native Americans moved plants around? since Europeans brought plants with them here in the 1600's? Since temperatures warmed up a couple of degres? should we be prohibited from growing exotic medicinal plants?   The whole native versus exotic argument is xenophobic BS. There are plenty of exotic plants that don't need extra inputs to grow here just fine.
Requiring people to purchase only native plants is like requiring us to buy only American made goods? Most of our foods are exotic. Should we only eat local "native" food?  The average working class American cannot afford to shop at the local farmers market. They have to shop at Wallmart with 85% Chinese made goods.  Makes no sense at all. Americans used to have freedom to choose what they wanted, now Big Brother chooses for all of us.
Bob

________________________________
From: mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org [mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of Edward Fletcher [efletcher at skybest.com]
Sent: Monday, October 25, 2010 12:01 PM
To: mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org; michael.d.ward at aphis.usda.gov
Subject: [MPWG] White list & invasive plants issues...

While I do understand the 'invasive plants' concern, reiterated when I drive through the South and see kudzu climbing over 100' pine trees and choking out acres of plants, I know the horticultural/ornamental market is driving this demand. It has always been the desire to have plants from 'exotic' places rather than 'native' plants in one's landscape. Then even if not invasive, there are inherent problems that come along with this, i.e., extra water in dryer climates, pest issues, diseases, etc.

So it seems to me a companion list to this 'white list' is a 'native plant list' that is allowed. Many counties and some states only allow or require indigenous plant species to be planted. Bravo, Bravo!!! This makes the most sense to me, then we can still go to the botanical gardens to see exotic plants perhaps.

Notes to remember: We have invasives that are native also. Many hybrids of native species are available for diversity in the landscape.

Genuinely,
Edward J. Fletcher

-----Original Message-----
From: "mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org" <mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: 10/24/2010 3:53 AM
To: "mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org" <mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
Subject: [MPWG] Fwd:

"WHITE LIST" OF AUTHORIZED PLANTS (Canada and U.S.)

The U.S. and Canadian governments are planning to introduce a "white list" of plants that are allowed entry into each country under a joint Canada-USA greenhouse certification program. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are requesting comments from stakeholders on a proposal to replace the current list of prohibited plants with this new list of allowed plants. What this means is that if a plant is not on the allowed list it cannot enter the U.S. from Canada or vice versa. Many thousands of plants including many herbs will be barred entry under the proposal.

This change is highly significant for both countries because it appears to be a first attempt to implement a controversal "white list" approach to the control of cross-border plant movement. The proposed "white list" is far more restrictive than the current "black list" of prohibited plants that has been in place since the inception of the binational Greenhouse Certification Program in 1996. The proposed "white list" of allowed plants includes less than 1000 plant genera, out of over 12,600 genera of flowering plants known to man. The current "black list" of prohibited plants has fewer than 100 genera.

Some suggest that the powerful anti-invasives movement in the U.S. is behind the push to introduce "white lists" of plants that are allowed into the country. While invasives are a problem for both countries, the new list will affect thousands of plants already in the horticultural trade, and will limit the introduction of new plants to gardeners.

For gardeners, it is worth reflecting a moment on how many new plants that you have enjoyed growing over the past 10-20 years, and how many of them might not have been available to you had this "white list" been in place.

Gardeners, herbalists, commercial growers, and the gardening and herbal media are encouraged to submit comments.

The deadline for comments is October 31, 2010.

United States: Email your comments to Michael D. Ward, Senior Accreditation Projects Manager, USDA-APHIS-PPQ (michael.d.ward at aphis.usda.gov)<mailto:michael.d.ward at aphis.usda.gov?Subject=GCP%20Comments>

Canada: Email your comments to the CFIA (horticulture at inspection.gc.ca<mailto:horticulture at inspection.gc.ca?Subject=comments>)

The relevant documents, including the proposed lists of authorized genera and families, are available here<http://www.richters.com/newdisplay.cgi?page=Issues/documents.html>.

--
\_\  RICHTERS HERBS
/ /  Goodwood, ON, L0C 1A0, Canada
\_\  Tel +1.905.640.6677  Fax +1.905.640.6641
/_/  http://www.richters.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.plantconservation.org/pipermail/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org/attachments/20101025/4bb738ea/attachment.html>