<head><style>body{font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;background-color: #ffffff;color: black;}</style><style>body{font-family: Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:9pt;background-color: #ffffff;color: black;}</style></head><body id="compText"><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 0px;"><moonbranch@earthlink.net><efletcher@skybest.com><rlb14@cornell.edu><cafesombra@aol.com><mpwg@lists.plantconservation.org><zzzhead></zzzhead><zzzbody id="compText">I'm a bit "later than usual" chiming in on this topic. I mostly agree with everything stated by Jennifer, Bob, and Ed. I cannot speak to sustainability of collection issues elsewhere as I have little or no direct experience in most regions of the world.<br><br>Ed's words tend to more accurately reflect my own sentiments based on what I see here in western North Carolina. Despite the national slowdown (meltdown) of the housing market, the blight of suburban and vacation/resort development continues here at an unprecidented pace. This creates a struggle over and competion for our natural resource base as never before.<br><br>Basically, traditional use populations are losing ground to development. Harvesters become easy scapegoats due to our overreliance on state and federal policy to protect these resources while the relatively wealthy, organized, and politically savvy (loggers, developers, realtors and bankers) continue to profit on the natural capital of this once great nation at the expense of that resource and those who depend on them for income, beauty, and recreation.<br><br>Policy based approaches by nature are flawed as they are always riddled with loopholes known only to the legally educated and thus usually wealthy. If you don't buy that then at least buy this: Policy is only as enduring as the administrations and governments that enact and enforce them contrasted with natural order which is eternal.<br><br>Policy based "fixes" merely represent job security for attorneys, CPAs, bureaucrats, and politicians. Policy is usually crafted by bureaucrats, politicians, and corporate interests here in the USA. In a word this is fascism.<br><br>Think I've gone of on a wild tirade? Consider these words popularly attributed to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini:<br><br>"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the
merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini<br><br>Much of this "fascist agenda" is propagated by the greenwashing of "intent" and incorporated into the language present in most current policy.<br><br>The resulting policy, although possibly much debated by all the special interest groups who want to be "right", continues to rain down on the unempowered fringe populations and cultures (i.e. wildharvesters) as the iron fist of the "machine".<br><br>Once again, let's revisit the notion that perhaps I am on some wild tirade. At the very least, the preceeding sentiment is the widely held perspective in so many words held by many in the wild harvesting professions. And as is popularly verbalized in our culture, "Perspective is reality."<br><br>Our current systems of policy development, enactment, and enforcement is ineffective for many reasons if for no other than it is by nature, divisive. So we continue to see the same scenario played out time and time again. People argue, postulate, and fight while plants suffer.<br><br>If our natural world is to survive, we must as Humans become "bridge-builders" forging systems based approaches to address environmental ills. We must embrace long lasting systemic change that recognizes the inter-specific relationships shared by all of God's creation.<br><br>If we as Humans do not actually INCREASE our level of participation based in reciprocity with the natural world, the best we can expect is for what we know as the natural world in the future will be a relict population in an inaccurately assembled community in some botanical gardens or zoological park. This possible scenario may join with many "symptoms" (i.e global warming, loss of biodiversity, pollution,.......) we are now experiencing as a resulting from a pathology of our own making.<br><br>Quite simply, it is time to address the disease and not the symptoms. As long as Humankind separates itself from the natural world by walls created by sectarian religion and science we will indeed experience the self-fulfilling prophecies of both.<br><br>Respectfully submitted,<br>Robin<br><br><br></zzzbody></mpwg@lists.plantconservation.org></cafesombra@aol.com></rlb14@cornell.edu></efletcher@skybest.com></moonbranch@earthlink.net><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 255); padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 0px;">-----Original Message-----
<br>From: Edward J Fletcher <efletcher@skybest.com>
<br>Sent: Jan 4, 2008 9:11 AM
<br>To: Bob Beyfuss <rlb14@cornell.edu>, "cafesombra@aol.com" <cafesombra@aol.com>, "MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org" <mpwg@lists.plantconservation.org>
<br>Subject: Re: [MPWG] addendum Re: Saving Plants That Save Lives
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</zzzbody></zzzmeta></zzzhead></zzzhtml></mpwg@lists.plantconservation.org></cafesombra@aol.com></rlb14@cornell.edu></efletcher@skybest.com><div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4">Well Said Bob "laws
don't protect plants", but in some instances we do need
them.</font></em></strong></div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4"></font></em></strong> </div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4">Example, I made an
observation years ago while we were doing a plant rescue project where a housing
development was going in. They allowed us to come in and rescue the plants on
the lots as they were sold before dozing them under. This particular day
there were 4 people on the rescue. We dug the plants within the marked
boundary and we dug for a little over 4 hours, collecting over 16 different
species of plants and yes some were considered protected.
</font></em></strong></div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4">Then a bulldozer came
in and dozed the same area in less than one hour, leaving nothing and
devastating everything to the point of no possibility of
regrow!</font></em></strong></div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4">So simple calculation
showed me that a bull dozer can destroy more in one hour that a man can dig in a
whole day. And the digging material usually gives it a chance for regrowth!
Dozing does not!</font></em></strong></div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4"></font></em></strong> </div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4">My point is, there are
no <u>laws</u> to cause "construction" to allow plant rescues before
"destroying" the whole environment! Neither are there incentives for those few
companies that do work to preserve as much of our natural landscape as possible.
There Should Be.</font></em></strong></div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4"></font></em></strong> </div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4">WE must be
heard. Again it comes down to US,the people, speaking up.... any way we
can... and it may start here in this little forum called the 'list serve'.
</font></em></strong></div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4"></font></em></strong> </div>
<div><strong><em><font color="#008000" face="MingLiU" size="4">Edward J.
Fletcher</font></em></strong></div>
<blockquote>
<div>-----Original Message-----<br><b>From: </b>Bob Beyfuss<br><b>Sent:
</b>1/3/2008 4:22 PM<br><b>To: </b>cafesombra@aol.com;
MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org<br><b>Subject: </b>Re: [MPWG] addendum Re:
Saving Plants That Save Lives<br><br><br>Laws don't protect plants, in fact
laws protecting plants that are completely unenforceable, as most plant laws
are, only serve to make the plants more valuable and do far more harm than
good. Where is the evidence that any law protecting any commercially used
plant has actually accomplished that goal? People who nurture and
use plants protect them far more than any laws. <br><br><br>At 03:55 PM
1/3/2008, cafesombra@aol.com wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote class="cite" cite="" type="cite">
<dl>
<dd>It's a crime that saving the plants that save lives is a voluntary
act, if you think you might want to, and allowing unrestricted trade of
unsustainable ingredients is protected by law.<br><br></dd></dl>Before
anyone criticizes this sentence, yes there are laws protecting plants.
Not enough, and not well enforced. <br><br><br>-----Original
Message-----<br>From: cafesombra@aol.com<br>To:
MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org<br>Sent: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 3:45
pm<br>Subject: Re: Saving Plants That Save
Lives<br><br>Hello,<br>"Unsustainable collection practices" (which we've
been blaming for years now) may be threatening / endangering plants.
But what causes unsustainable collection? Why are people pulling too
many plants out of the wild without implementing appropriate replanting
and/or protection measures? Could it be that unsustainable contracting
for commercial ingredients is the culprit? Business people,
especially the big users (I would say "players," if creating a sustainable
future were a game) can point the finger at collectors 'til the cowslip
comes home. But business people are the ones paying the
collectors. Now that distribution and product placement make it
difficult if not impossible for all but the bigger players to get into the
commerce game, we can no longer say that consumers demand it so, let's
supply what the people want. Consumers wander down the aisles choosing
from amongst what is there, and if one product disappears and an! other
replaces it, they still choose from what's there. They still tend to
choose what is placed right in front of their faces, as all informed
business people know. Imagine a world where no one can find any
non-organic products except by shunning the stores and going to their local
chemical factory farms to support the local underdogs. It's not going to do
your company any good to "give the people what they want" if the environment
is ruined and the source runs out in the process -- unless you are in it for
the quick return rather than the long haul.<br>I may be preaching to the
choir, assuming that signing up for an email list affirms one's commitment
to a sustainable future. So, if everyone on this list is already
perfect, how do we reach those who do not voluntarily choose to do the right
thing? Because that is what we need to do. It's a crime that
saving the plants that save lives is a voluntary act, if you think you might
want to, and allowing unrestricted trade of unsustainable ingredients is
protected by law.<br>Jennifer <a href="http://www.herbalistswithoutborders.org">www.herbalistswithoutborders.org</a>
<br><br><br>-----Original Message-----<br>From: Olivia Kwong <<a href="mailto:plant@plantconservation.org">
plant@plantconservation.org</a>><br>To: <a href="mailto:mpwg@lists.plantconservation.org">mpwg@lists.plantconservation.org</a><br>Sent:
Thu, 3 Jan 2008 10:53 am<br>Subject: [MPWG] NEWS: Saving Plants That Save
Lives<br><br><br><tt><a href="http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080101202622.htm">http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080101202622.htm</a><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>Saving
Plants That Save Lives<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>ScienceDaily (Jan. 1,
2008) - Poor or non-existent collection controls are
<br><br><br><br>threatening the survival of many of the plant species used
in traditional <br><br><br><br>and modern medicines. Some estimates indicate
that 15,000 of the 50,000 - <br><br><br><br>70,000 plant species used for
medicinal purposes and mostly collected from <br><br><br><br>the wild may be
threatened, many as a direct result of unsustainable
<br><br><br><br>collection practices.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>See the
link above for the full
article.<br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br><br><br><br>PCA's
Medicinal Plant Working Group mailing list<br><br><br><br><a href="mailto:MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org">MPWG@lists.plantconservation.org</a><br><br><br><br><a href="http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org" eudora="autourl">http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/mpwg_lists.plantconservation.org</a>
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</blockquote></div></blockquote>
</blockquote><pre>
Robin Alton Suggs
MoonBranch Botanicals
5294 Yellow Creek Road
Robbinsville, North Carolina 28771
USA
Telephone: 828.479.2788
moonbranch@earthlink.net
www.moonbranch.com
Member:
American Herbalist Guild
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project; Farm Partner
Co-op America
Green Products Alliance
National Network of Forest Practitioners
North Carolina Consortium on Natural Medicines
North Carolina Goodness Grows/NCDA&CS
North Carolina Natural Products Association
Southwestern North Carolina RC&D Council
United Plant Savers
"We have no choice but to respect that which sustains us."</pre></blockquote></body><pre>
Robin Alton Suggs
MoonBranch Botanicals
5294 Yellow Creek Road
Robbinsville, North Carolina 28771
USA
Telephone: 828.479.2788
moonbranch@earthlink.net
www.moonbranch.com
Member:
American Herbalist Guild
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project; Farm Partner
Co-op America
Green Products Alliance
National Network of Forest Practitioners
North Carolina Consortium on Natural Medicines
North Carolina Goodness Grows/NCDA&CS
North Carolina Natural Products Association
Southwestern North Carolina RC&D Council
United Plant Savers
"We have no choice but to respect that which sustains us."</pre>