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<title>Re: [MPWG] Mission Impossible statement??</title>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Dear group: </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I’ve lurked long on this listserve,
hoping for some discussion on commercial farming of medicinal plants. Thank
you, Myron (MJH), for digging up the stated focus of the group. And I add my
vote to keep this discussion group both diverse and very active (but then I am
blessed with a high-speed internet connection). </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>To toss another thread onto the topic
pile, I am searching for sources of tissue-cultured propagules (or any sterile
propagation technique) of medicinal root crops. I will be growing the plants in
hydroponic systems, so I require clean propagation material. I do not have
access to facilities right now to do my own propagation. At this time, I am
particularly interested in False Unicorn or Helonius root (<i><span
style='font-style:italic'>Chamaelirium luteum</span></i>), Black Cohosh (<i><span
style='font-style:italic'>Cimicifuga racemosa</span></i>), and Wasabi (<i><span
style='font-style:italic'>Wasabia wasabi</span></i> or <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>W. japonica</span></i>)…(OK, I admit Wasabi may
not be considered a medicinal, but it certainly has some bioactivity!) </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Any leads or recommendations for commercial
propagators who produce sterile planting material of medicinal and other
high-value root crops would be greatly appreciated (you may respond directly to
me at the email listed below if you prefer). Thank you, and I enjoy the
electronic chatter about the plants, the environment, and the society that we,
and they, live in. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=2 color=navy face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:navy'>Anita
"Teena" Hayden, PhD</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=2 color=navy face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:navy'>PO Box 6304</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=2 color=navy face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:navy'>Asheville, NC
28816</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=2 color=navy face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:navy'>Phone: (828)
252-9305</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=2 color=navy face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:navy'>Fax: (828)
252-8538</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=2 color=navy face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:navy'>email: </span></font><font
color=navy face=Papyrus><span style='font-family:Papyrus;color:navy'><a
href="mailto:hayden@nativeamericanbotanics.com"><font size=2
face="Comic Sans MS"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>hayden@nativeamericanbotanics.com</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=2 color=navy face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";color:navy'>web: </span></font><font
color=navy face=Papyrus><span style='font-family:Papyrus;color:navy'><a
href="http://www.nativeamericanbotanics.com"><font size=2 face="Comic Sans MS"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS"'>www.nativeamericanbotanics.com</span></font></a></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 color=navy face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b>
MPWG-bounces@lists.plantconservation.org
[mailto:MPWG-bounces@lists.plantconservation.org] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>myron<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, January 06, 2004
2:39 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> PCA's Medicinal Plant Working
Group List<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [MPWG] Mission
Impossible statement??</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:
.5in'><font size=2 face="Courier New"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
"Courier New"'><br>
<br>
<tt><font face="Courier New">What course would that be?</font></tt><br>
<br>
<tt><font face="Courier New">-Patricia</font></tt><br>
<br>
<tt><font face="Courier New">Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.</font></tt><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<tt><font face="Courier New">Myron will be out of the office starting
1/6/2004 and will not return until</font></tt><br>
<tt><font face="Courier New">01/12/2004.</font></tt><br>
<br>
<tt><font face="Courier New">I am out of the country on an<u>
undercoverinternational assignment</u> and will respond to</font></tt><br>
<tt><font face="Courier New">your message when I return. Assuming I am
not killed.</font></tt><br>
</span></font><font size=5 face=Arial><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:
Arial'><br>
Just Joking. The short answer to the question regarding the
"necessary course" (IMHO) concerns CONSERVATION of medicinal plants.<br>
To quote from the home page of the PCA-MPWG (and Dodge the responsibility-
Sorry but the articulated mission as stated is better than any solitary opinion
I could now attempt ...and the review seems necessary):<br>
<br>
"Because native plant habitats are destroyed almost daily, many
medicinally valuable plants will be gone before scientists can even investigate
them.</span></font></p>
<h2 style='margin-left:.5in'><b><i><font size=5 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-style:italic'>How many medicines
have we already lost?<br>
</span></font></i></b><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>What
Does The Medicinal Plant Working Group Do?</span></font></h2>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:18.0pt'><br>
</span></font><font size=5 face=Arial><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>The primary focus of the Medicinal Plant Working Group is facilitating
action on behalf of medicinal plants native to the United States that are of
particular conservation concern.<br>
How can scientists, manufacturers, wildcrafters, conservationists and others
work together to anticipate trends and safeguard wild populations before
commercial overharvesting reduces their numbers? To a large extent, the hope
lies in commercial farming, which should help decrease collection pressure on
wild populations.<br>
</span></font><font size=5><span style='font-size:18.0pt'><br>
</span></font><font size=5 face=Arial><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:
Arial'>The role of MPWG is to forge partnerships with industry, government,
academia, tribes and environmental organizations to facilitate sustainable use
and conservation of medicinal plants. While our focus is on medicinals native
to the United States, our membership includes international players, reflecting
the fact that medicinal plants face similar challenges on a global scale.<br>
<br>
The group's primary focus is to facilitate action on behalf of species of
particular conservation concern as a means to balance biological and commercial
needs and, in the long term, minimize regulatory intervention. "</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
I have cobbled these quotes together to reflect the issues I (personally) feel
need to be focussed on within the e-mail list. Recent contributions from
Robyn, Cafesombra, herbdatanz, Niki, Mr Leonard and others (some by proxy) have
remained true to these concerns. Nowhere on the MPWG pages was there
mention of any individual therapeutic discussions. But as I've mentioned
before such "seeds" could feasibly fuel discussions on conservation
in a more heuristic manner (as they have here?).<br>
<br>
Another curiosity : It is worth noting that the individuals "who
ordinarily lurk in the sidelines" that have responded to the pressing
needs of the plants and conservation are actually the one's who often respond.
What's curious is that NONE of these people are ever "out of the
office" because they are people who are not IN the office, in the first
place. They are, as far as I can tell, individuals providing a voice from
their respective localities AND, I have a sneaking suspicion, ACTING within
their communities to further the same goals of the PCA-MPWG. Probably on a
shoestring. I am wondering if there could be more input from people who
were in a position to do something in a more central location.
Obviously there are "bioprospecting" conferences and the like
(which RSVP: I regret I will be unable to attend) providing a great deal of
discussion, perhaps even proposed legislation, but I'll hear nothing in the
form of a re-cap in this e-mail forum. I make this point not to suggest
(directly, at least ) that the concerns of the PCA are not being addressed with
the tangential(?) discussion of herbal therapeutics. Rather, I am
wondering what may be done to facilitate the communication between the
local and central divisions of this virtual "community". This
is not an accusatory tone, as my own participation is severely hobbled (as much
by ignorance of the issues as time, I will admit) but rather a desparate plea
to the lurkers for broader participation that something might actually come
forth to further the stated goals of the MPWG<br>
<br>
mjh</span></font></p>
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