[PCA] TV: David Mizejewski on the Today Show

Mon Jul 19 09:55:29 CDT 2004

Another benefit of "Conservation Landscaping":   Trees, shrubs, and
perennials have more intricate root systems than turf, so reducing lawn
area by planting perennials and woodies reduces runoff, stablizes soils,
and promotes recharge of local aquifers.  Many suburban/urban landscapes
dump water into sewer systems that drain directly into local streams.  By
planting conservation landscapes we reduce the unnatural volume (undercuts
stream banks) of  warm (bad for trout and many other critters), silt and
chemical layden water that enters our local water bodies.

As for the statement "to be a real member of a species you must live in
natural habitat":  Do you think that a tiger swallowtail caterpiller cares
if its host tree is in my backyard vs. a natural area?  Are the 500-2000
cedar waxwings that feast annually on the berries of the 40' American
Hollies in my yard (in the very urbanized DC/Baltimore corridor) not "real"
members of Bombycilla cedrorum ?

~~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~``~`~`~`~`~`~`~``~`~`~`~`~`~`~`
Susan M. Zwicker, Fish & Wildlife Biologist
BayScapes Program
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Chesapeake Bay Field Office
177 Admiral Cochrane Dr.
Annapolis, MD  21401
(410) 573-4559/ fax (410) 224-2781
sue_zwicker at fws.gov
www.fws.gov/r5cbfo/bayscapes.htm

                      Bruce Sorrie <bsorrie at earthlink.net>                                                                       
                      Sent by:                                       To:      Robert Dana <robert.dana at dnr.state.mn.us>          
                      native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconse         cc:      native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org          
                      rvation.org                                    Subject: Re: [PCA] TV: David Mizejewski on the Today Show   

                      07/16/04 05:29 PM                                                                                          
                      Please respond to bsorrie                                                                                  

Grinches all - I completely agree with Robert, and have thought the same
way for many years.  Although backyard gardeners may make a small
difference with local wildlife populations (mostly suburban bird species,
which are common), I doubt that gardeners can significantly impact "wilder"
species.  Additionally, there are particularly knotty problems with
planting native flora in backyards, as Robert has pointed to - how is a
22nd century botanist to know that a woodlot population is
naturally-occurring or originally planted in a nearby yard?
    To those who suggest that planting additional pops of plants or captive
breeding of animals is a remedy for declining flora and fauna, I say think
carefully before you act.  Don't misconstrue my message - I applaud efforts
to prevent the extinction of species and of disjunct and peripheral
populations.  No one can say that we'd be better off without them in the
gene pool.  But backyard gardening and wildlife plantings are not
comparable to preserving genetic diversity of threatened species.
    My biggest knock against the practice is the notion that "wildlife
garden" plants and animals have equal value, or nearly equal value, as
truly wild ones.  As any zoo animal or potted plant knows, to be a real
member of a species you must live in natural habitat.

Bruce A. Sorrie
North Carolina

Robert Dana wrote:
      Call me a grinch, but I'm having a hard time understanding why anyone
      thinks that gardening has much to do with conservation. Most gardens
      will last only so long as people keep them going--without continuing
      maintenance they will quickly be taken over by the numerous exotic
      "weeds" that are so comfortable in human-dominated landscapes. In
      their
      often naive enthusiasm (abetted by commercial vendors) folks are
      planting "natives" helter skelter, even well outside their natural
      ranges. This creates problems for us trying to conserve the plants
      where
      they naturally occur as it becomes more difficult to deal with the
      challenge of demonstrating that the  occurrence is really natural and
      not a garden escape (or an intentional planting). There is also the
      specious challenge that since we can plant things why worry about
      conserving natural habitats anyway. People rarely have any idea what
      a
      tiny fraction of the species richness of n
      atural communities is present
      in gardens (or "restorations"). In my view, the whole wildlife
      gardening
      business just diverts energy from what we really need to be doing for
      conservation.

      I'll be interested to see whether these issues get any discussion in
      the book.

      Oh, good luck, Dave!

      Robert

      *************************************************************
      Robert Dana, Ph.D.
      MN DNR
      Natural Heritage and Nongame Research Program
      500 Lafayette Rd, Box 25
      St. Paul, MN 55155
      651 297-2367
      Email: robert.dana at dnr.state.mn.us
      *************************************************************

                        Plant Conservation <plant at plantconservation.org>
                        7/16/04 10:40:07
      AM >>>
      Just FYI.

      ---------- Forwarded message ----------
      Date: Fri, 16 Jul 2004 11:39:55 -0400
      From: David Mizejewski <mizejewski at nwf.org>
      To: David Mizejewski <Mizejewski at nwf.org>
      Subject: Today Show this weekend

      Dear Friends and Colleagues - I wanted to let you know that I'm going
      to
      be making my debut on national television this weekend.  I'll be
      appearing on the weekend edition of the Today Show this Sunday (7/18)
      between 8:30-9 a.m. to promote my book and National Wildlife
      Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat program.

      The book is called "Attracting Birds, Butterflies and Other Backyard
      Wildlife."  It's all about sustainable gardening, native plants, and
      of
      course all of the cool critters (not just birds and butterflies) that

      can share your yard.  Check it out on NWF's bookstore at the URL
      below
      (it's also available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble).

      https://m1.buysub.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10701&storeId=10701&productId=14713&langId=-1&parentCategoryId=10067&topCategoryId=10066

      Wish me luck!

      Dave

      ******************************************
      Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program
      ******************************************
      David Mizejewski
      National Wildlife Federation
      11100 Wildlife Center Drive
      Reston, VA 20190
      (703) 438-6499
      fax 703-438-6468
      www.nwf.org/backyardwildlifehabitat

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--

Bruce A. Sorrie
North Carolina Natural Heritage Program
3076 Niagara-Carthage Rd.
Whispering Pines,  NC  28327
910-949-2625
bsorrie at earthlink.net

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