[PCA] wildflowers

[Angelo DiMario]

The environment of the Jamestown, Rhode Island Housing Authority (45 Pemberton Avenue, Jamestown, Rhode Island 02835) apartments is one of the issues addressed in my November application for a position on the JRIHA board. Some residents had presented to management literature from The Rhode Island Wild Plant Society in an effort to live in a more natural and quiet space and to curb pollution of an acre lawn maintenance damaging the ecology of our Narragansett Bay environment and the noise of mowing and weed-whacking as much as four days a week all summer long. Management tries to discourage us by damaging and destroying plants by weed-whacking down to the dirt even after we bordered the plants because maintenance claims they can't distinguish the plants from lawn, and at the height of flowering management uprooted our wildflowers and threw them in the dumpster. 

On December 18 2003 the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, New England Office of Public Housing, 10 Causeway Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02222-1092, responded to my board application, "In response to your gardening concerns, the JRIHA Director Sirje Carl stated that you planted 'wild flowers' on the grounds and were informed not to do so since the 'wild flowers' are considered weeds. The Jamestown Housing Authority cleaned all weeds from the grounds of the Authority, removing the 'wild flowers' that were planted. Very sincerely yours, Ernest M. Blanchette,     Division Director, New England Office of Public Housing." 

Our United States Senator Jack Reed intervened on our behalf.  United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, New England Office of the Regional Director, 10 Causeway Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02222-1092, responded on December 22, 2003, "Dear Senator Reed: In response to Mr. DiMario's gardening concerns, the JHA states that Mr. DiMario planted 'wild flowers' ... around the property. The Jamestown Housing Authority apparently is not allowing 'wild flowers' to be planted on the grounds because they are considered weeds. The Executive Director informed him not to plant the 'wild flowers'...  The Housing Authority has acted within the Department's guidelines and regulations as well as their own policies.  Sincerely yours, Kevin Keogh, Regional Director."

We cannot recall anyone who dislikes wildflowers and we are seeking support for our wild plants and wild flowers, in contrast to the intently mean-spirited dislike of wildflowers directed by HUD New England and the Jamestown Housing Authority. Some time ago The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development with the vast properties it oversees should have joined with the "Plant Conservation Alliance consortium of Federal government member agencies and over 145 non-federal cooperators representing various...non-profit organizations, concerned citizens, nature lovers, and gardeners...to pool resources and combine energies to develop innovative approaches to ensure the continued existence of our plant resources. Most current plant conservation efforts lack focus and are fragmented among Federal agencies, States, conservation groups, botanical gardens, academia, and private individuals. The national Plant Conservation Alliance  provides a framework and strategy for linking resources and expertise in developing a coordinated national approach to plant conservation...for the enduring benefit of  the Nation, its ecosystems, and people, to conserve and protect our native plant heritage by ensuring that to the greatest extent feasible, native plant species and communities are maintained, enhanced, restored, or established on public lands, and that such activities are promoted on private lands. The presence of plants in their native habitats and in cultivation enhances our world in many ways. Native plant communities and natural areas provide opportunities for people to experience nature. Most people do not appreciate and understand how important native plant diversity is to sustaining our world, health, and lifestyles,...many people have not had opportunities to learn about native plants and to enjoy the beauty of wildflowers, just one of the many aesthetic values of native plants." With groups like the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center <http://www.wildflower.org/> we hope to help people know "about the environmental necessity, economic value, and natural beauty of native plants and their role in a healthy ecosystem, to value the beauty and health of the natural landscape, to conserve and restore wildflowers, native plants, and the biological communities on which they depend."

We are seeking advocacy for The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to encourage the right of ecologically aware residents    to enhance the environment of their homes with native wild plants and wildflowers.


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