[PCA] NOTES: Summary of March 9th PCA Meeting

[Plant Conservation]

For an easier to read format, the notes will be added to the website soon
at http://www.nps.gov/plants/summary.htm

Olivia
CPC/PCA
http://www.nps.gov/plants/

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Notes from Plant Conservation Alliance Meeting
9 March 2005
NatureServe, Rosslyn, VA
(Notes taken by P. De Angelis)

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PCA Chair - Peggy Olwell (BLM) began meeting with introductions.
Sign-up sheet passed around.

New/returning participants

- Virgil Meier - U.S. Department of Agriculture - Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS)
- Bonnie Harper-Lore - Federal Highway Administration (FHA)

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Announcements

Gary Krupnik (Botany Dept, Smithsonian Institution): "Barcoding the Plants
and Their Crawling Parasites of Costa Rica: Mechanics, Reality, Hopes and
Preliminaries," Dan Janzen speaking at the USBG. 4pm. Register via USBG
website.
- The Future of Floras - New Frameworks, New Technologies, New Uses (April
15-16, 2005, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington DC) - register at - see http://persoon.si.edu/sbs/
- Smithsonian will publish "Plant Conservation A Natural history Approach"
in July

Sara Tangren (Chesapeake Native Nursery/Maryland Native Plant Society):
Submitting bid to use native species for a soil stabilization project to
NRCS Conservation Innovation program - An annual grant program entering
its 2nd year with goal to transfer information to the public. Will need to
ID the plants; figure out who will do it and transfer the info to the
people. Requires 50% match; 25%-50% = nonfederal;25% in cash. Proposal due
Mar. 28th; See: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cpi/

Virgil Meier (USDA-APHIS): AIS has requested deregulation of
glyphosate-tolerant creeping bentgrass; planning a "scoping" meeting in DC
(May); West Coast (1-2 wk later). Working with Carol DiSalvo (NPS) - IPM
Coordinator. Have received much info in 2 rounds of public comments. Would
like more information on the use of Round Up in natural areas; will send
FR notice announcement to listserve. Would like to know more about
glyphosate use and information as to its indispensability in some cases.
APWG and NatureServe could send questions out. Peggy will send list of PCA
member agencies to Virgil.
- Discussion of PCA contacts to ask about the issue. Suggestions to:
  - speak with the extension service or invasive species coordinators;
Scott Fredericks will provide contact info for Jan Ferringa (Invasive
Species Coordinator for Arlington Country)
  - talk with Jil; post the FR notice on the web - on APWGs site?
  - look toward groups like MNPS and VNPS
  - [[Mugglestone: also Scott Fredericks will also send Ferringa's contact
info to as there may be]]

Larry Morse (NatureServe): National Park Service has field trips on their
land; also Botanical Society of Washington is having a field trip to Great
Falls in April

Olivia Kwong (BLM/SER): New native flowers poster by John Pitcher - Good
Nature Publishing

Rachel Muir (USGS): Rachel has succeeded Sharon Gross (who retired) as new
Imperiled Species Coordinator

Ellen Rubin (EPA): 3rd International Phytotechnologies Conf. - Apr 20-22;
free student housing; Ga.; discounted hotel if register by end of this
month; field trip to Savannah Rivers; poster sessions (60); Georgia Native
Plant Alliance (Affholter/Georgia PCA)

Patricia De Angelis (FWS): Attended Weeds Week (lat Feb.) with PCA
materials and was approached by someone who's interested in updating a
publication by Smithsonian, called Biodiversity. Rachel Muir was Asst.
editor of the document. Peter Raven also involved. Rachel has several
copies and could bring copies to another meeting. Bonnie Harper-Lore (who
also attended Weeds Week) has copies. Send request for information to
Bonnie <bonnie.harper-lore at fhwa.dot.gov> or Rachel <rachel_muir at usgs.gov>.

Scott Fredericks (EPA): Trying to incl. Jim Van der Klut, who was
quantifying the value of using Natives in plantings; Greg Eckert -
Restoration Working Group;
- Beyond Hydroseeding- A course being developed to promote the use of
natives for restoration; will be a web-based course as part of a virtual
academy; the first 2-hour course will begin in August at a date TBD - and
its free to all interested parties (plus we would welcome feed-back). We
will provide an announcement soon about the first WEB course and send the
information over the PCA listserve serve-list. A link to the site will be
provided when it becomes available. Should probably involve the point of
contact for the course, Ravi Sunitha (with Tetro Tech EMI), in the
coordination efforts.

Kathryn Kennedy(CPC): NGO survey draft is ready and, pending approval by
the steering committee, will go out late July or August.
- Hope to convene a general meeting in St. Louis, Chicago or Denver around
November or December. Olwell will explore best dates as September not good
for many present - too close to end of the FY. Topics to cover should
include: explaining the NPMD program - how it works; need for greater
federal and partner involvement - and general overview of other focus
areas; 2-day meeting minimum. Suggestion that all agencies talk about how
they are using NPMs. Will NRCS be involved?
- Survey results will be circulated and posted in advance of the meeting.
An announcement of the meeting will go on the PCA website and the
listserve.

Pam Bailey (Army Corps Engineers): Environmental Natural Resource
Conference - May 3-6 - St. Louis, Missouri; open to all

Rachel Muir (USGS): Technical Symposium & Workshop: Threatened,
Endangered, and At-Risk Species (TER-S) on DoD and Adjacent Lands, June
7-9, 2005 (Baltimore MD). Sponsored by DoD/DOE/EPA. Will cover ES of all
ilk.
http://www.serdp.org/TESWorkshop/

Pam Bailey (USACE): The National Military Fish and Wildlife Association
conference was held on March 14th-18th. It was well-attended conference by
military natural resource managers. Highlights from the meeting will be
posted in the next few weeks at:
http://www.nmfwa.org/2005_Meeting/index.htm.
- On the 18th, while in the Washington D.C., I gave a presentation
entitled "The Role of Native Plants in the Corps Mission" at the US Army
Corps of Engineer Headquarters which incorporated information on PCA and
requested the Corp's to sign the MOU. Mr. Tim Toplisek, my contact there,
is working within Headquarters' on native and invasive plant issues, and
is working towards the Corps command signing the MOU. See US Army Corps of
Engineers (USACE) Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Species Protection
and Management System website at:
http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/tessp/index.cfm

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Update on Committee Activities

-Alien Plant Working Group (Jil Swearingen - NPS)
  - 2 new fact sheets - Phragmites and tall fescue

-Medicinal Plant Working Group (Patricia De Angelis - USFWS)
  - Medicinal Plant Fact Sheets - in discussions to have our fact sheets
updated; will be join effort with Medicinal Plant Specialist Group.
  - Symposium III - The date was set as December - As of June o5, it will
be moved to early 2006. When announce when date firm.
  - MPWG-Conservation Committee met with the garden Club of American at US
FWS building in February to discuss 2005 projects.

-Native Plant Materials Development (Not in attendance)
  - R. Muir mentioned that two Senators from Iowa - Grassley - Harking are
focused on NPMD
  - Bonnie Harper-Lore - things FHA is doing re NPMD
    - $200-400k grant - to develop system of regional seed harvest;
planting and field production; 3 regions - SE, Mid-Atl, SW; company from
TX doing show thing; last year grant to develop native sods - by a NW
Univ. - FS and NPS
    - Salish and Koo-tenai Tribes - native grass and forb seed for their
area - to serve as model to other tribes who have reservation land and
need economic development
    - "How To" for native seed production; seed collecting, harvest; Will
this be organized on regional level? Somewhat but since this is the first
effort, the first region will be the one it is starting in

-National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (Ellen Lippincott - NFWF)
  - Received 102 pre-proposals for most recent round of NPCI grants asking
for just over $2mill in total requests, with $3.2 to match. Won't fund
them all. Have approximately $500,000 (BLM, FS, FWS). Working with review
committee (including Carol Spurrier, Wayne Owen, and Dave Harrelson) to
determine who to invite for full-proposal; invites will be sent out in
next 2 weeks
  - Discussion of who can be reviewer and who can make proposals. S.
Tangren volunteered to be reviewer.
  - Bonnie Harper-Lore - FHA interested in contributing money but no way
to do it yet. Perhaps via Interagency transfer?

-Public Outreach (Not in attendance)

-Restoration Working Group (Greg Eckert - NPS)
  - Following up on a US Forest Service (USFS)/California publication on
Genetic Issues in Revegetation Resources - which will happen in March 8-9
  - Have approached Bureau of Reclamation, USDA-National Resources
Conservation Service (NRCS) Soil Survey, USFS Region II, and The Nature
Conservancy staff in an effort to recruit a wider variety of technical and
agency expertise in the working group
  - Encouraging development of regional restoration manuals for
practitioners. Working with NPS, BLM and DOD partners to update the Desert
Restoration Guide.
  - Putting together information to demonstrate PCA's interest in the
publication, Northwest Ecosystems Restoration Encyclopedia. Will send more
details to PCA federal committee members, along with a request for members
agencies to donate funds toward publishing the book (donation exceeding
$1000 will get PCA listed as a sponsor). See
http://riversfoundation.org/rfa/watersheds/doc/columbia_river/

-PCA MOU
  - Seven agencies have signed on!
  - EPA: Have not heard back from them. Fredericks asked if we still have
a point of contact as previous contact left. Peggy will provide 2 more
briefing books and Fredericks will seek another contact person. ((EPA now
under same appropriations as Interior - invasive spp and land
revitalization))
  - Army Corps of Engineers - Tim Toplisek spearheading - see
announcements (above)

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United States Botanic Garden
John Mugglestone - Conservation Horticulturist

USBG became PCA cooperator within past 6 months

History
- original conservatory was built in 1820; housed collections for 8 yrs
and building torn down.
1837-1842 - no conservatory on the mall.
1832 - US exploring expedition (Wilkes Expedition) - Wilkes traveled
around world and brought back specimens (including plants). Built a
conservatory.
USBG was established in 1933; the building was renovated from 1998-2002.

The USBG includes the conservatory, 5 acres of exterior grounds (Bartholdi
Park and a 3 acre-site where constructing the national garden). They have
support greenhouses in Anacostia. The greenhouses are not generally open
to the public but would be able to arrange a PCA visit there. They
occasionally have open houses.

Mission:
Collect, Grow, Display and Distribute plants.
Today they are focusing on use of plants; more emphasis on displaying and
education about threatened plants. They get about a quarter of a million
visitors each year. Staff - 55 people in all; falls under the Office of
the Architect of the Capital

Collections:
- Desert plants from around the world - Aloe polyphylla (Africa)
endangered
- Hawaii - Kokia drynarioides - cllxn getting larger
- Natives of FE and SW United States - Lilium iridollae (Pot of Gold lily)
grows in pitcher plant bogs and wet pine forests - SE thru VA
  - Bill McGoughlin horticulturist is growing these
- Orchid collection - Encyclia cockleata var. triandra - W.
Indies/Venezuela; listed as vulnerable by the IUCN - grows in southern
Florida.
- Native plant collection for E. Coast of US: Gentiana autumnalis -
coastal plain
- National Garden's major focus will be especially to highlight native
plants from coastal plain

World Botanic Gardens Congress - held in Asheveille NC (2000) - launched
the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation - an
important document for botanic gardens that focus on conservation work and
challenges them to utilize resources to effect conservation worldwide.
USBG decided to focus on 1) education, 2) collections of threatened
plants, and 3) local partnerships.

EDUCATION
- permanent and seasonal exhibits on plant conservation
- last summer, held NAPPCs Great Pollination Partnership exhibit
- exhibit of rare and threatened plants of Hawwaii - partnering with N.
Trop National Botanic Garden (NBG) and Hawaii's National Park Service
- current exhibit - living fossil - Wollemi pine - from blue mountains of
Australia
- Invasives exhibit
- Workshops
- Classes
  - Applied Plant Conservation Training Program - June 2005 USBG - Denver
Botanic Garden (DBG) - Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) will partner to
present this 2-week conference to explore the theoretical/practical
aspects of in situ/ex situ conservation. Ten interns (graduate students)
will stay on for additional 8 wks - monitoring, inventorying species.
www.appliedplantconservation.org
    - Hoping to make it an annual event; ideally would move to diff parts
of country; funded with partnership funds for USBG (from Congress);
enrollment expectations - about 30 people - to foster interaction

COLLECTIONS
- USBG is a Plant Rescue Center for plant material seized at US borders
- Working with orchid grower in N.Y. State to propagate Paphiopedilum
vietnamense in the hopes that flooding the market with
commercially-propagated plants will mitigate collxn pressure
- When plants are seized, does the country of origin have a right to get
it back? Yes, they have first right of refusal. Most do not ask for
specimens back because of cost to transport.
- Any plans to compensate or work with Vietnam? - perhaps in the in
future, something keeping in mind
- Is it extinct in the wild? Not yet.

PARTNERSHIPS
- Growing plants for Anacostia watershed Society; National Capital Parks
East (riparian plants)

How's National Garden coming along?
They've excavated and still appear to be on track for projected opening
date.

Does USBG cooperate with other local volunteer groups?
Yes - eager to hook up with other groups doing good work.

S. Fredericks - In Arlington County, working on 4 mile run and struggling
to get proper expertise on invasives, restoration, etc.

What educational opportunities do you see for the National Garden?
An environmental learning center was in original plan but there is no
funding for that; interpretation will be main education

S. Tangren would love to see a very public place can be formal gardens can
also be natives; also should include information on the threats to native
plants in the interpretive material, esp. that one should not garden with
locally rare or endangered species. There are two ways to go about this:
Either illustrate by example that it is not necessary to have endangered
species in the garden OR include them in the National Garden as examples
of their beauty and importance of preserving them

Cultivars are also a concern - MNPS does not consider cultivars to be
natives; they usually come from limited genetic pool and will
cross-pollinate with sometimes less common pure species in the wild.

P. Olwell - folks should see what they are losing

S. Tangren - have the plant and teach them important not to garden with
them; could possibly propagate the heck out of them so they have back up
stock, but USBG couldn't sell to public; suggest that you include native
nurseries in the program because the nurseries can sell to the public

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Closing Remarks

S. Tangren - MNPS wants to set standards and review the nurseries on the
list - but, there is no manpower. There are some groups that certify
(Kallowee group). Perhaps self-certification is the key.

R. Muir - What about an A list and a B list. Could make a tag that says
"I'm native friendly for Mid-Atlantic - Delaware;" Behnke's may be
interested.

P. Olwell - AABGA - Board of Directors coming to USBG in April

R. Muir - Any news from the Garden Club of American (GCA) National Affairs
and Legislation meeting in February? Three is a history of cooperation
between GCA and USGS; also with PCA, MPWG - Partners for Plants; Kathryn
Kennedy is an honorary member of GCA and was here for those meetings.

Kathryn noted that the meetings were very vibrant and upbeat, the
attendees very well informed and passionate. Major items discussed were
possible changes to the laws for tax benefits from conservation easements
making it very hard for property owners to benefit from giving
Conservation Easements. Also high on the agenda were water quality, clean
air standards, possible drilling in ANWAR, subsidence in the New Orleans
area, Chesapeake preserve efforts, and the GCA program Partners for
Plants. See also: http://www.pgcinc.org/LegisUpdates.htm.

P. Olwell - Asked Stoddard/Wise to come talk with us; July not good month
to do it - September meeting? Gives us 6 months before next time they come
for annual meeting.

Meeting adjourned.