[PCA] QUESTION: Destruction of Seeds (fwd)

[Rich Owings]

This brings up another question. How does one go about becoming an approved
Plant Rescue Center (PRC)?

Rich Owings, Executive Director
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
18220 North Highway One
Fort Bragg, CA 95437
707.964.4352 x 11
707.964.3114 fax
www.gardenbythesea.org

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Patricia_Ford at fws.gov>
To: <native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 9:41 AM
Subject: Re: [PCA] QUESTION: Destruction of Seeds (fwd)


>
>
>
>
> Regarding the inquiry about seeds of Pritchardia remota that were
> confiscated by USDA officials. I forward the e-mail to USDA-APHIS, below
is
> their explanation of the event.  Additionally, it is the USDA not the Fish
> and Wildlife Service that inspects plants and plant material at U.S.
ports.
> The FWS does not destroy seized plants.
>
> Dear Ms. Coulombe,
>
> We researched your concerns about the Pritchardia palm seeds and here is
> what we have determined.  The seeds in question have not been destroyed.
> The Inspection  Officer inadvertently stated on the Mail Interception form
> that they were "removed and destroyed", when in reality they were held and
> set aside(safeguarded)at the Plant Inspection Station, as is our standard
> practice with endangered species.  They are currently there awaiting
> assignment to an approved Plant Rescue Center (PRC)(e.g., botanic garden).
> Some other non-regulated species of seed (i.e., CITES or ESA) were shipped
> along with the two ESA-regulated Pritchardias, and those were released to
> the importer.
>
> There was no certification that the seed was from an artificially
> propagated source, no statement on the bags, labels, or the phytosanitary
> certificate regarding the specific origin.  There was no ESA permit from
> the US FWS presented that the importer was obligated to have prior to
> importation.  Steps are now being taken to have them assigned to a PRC as
> quickly as possible.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> T. Mark Thurmond
> Botanist (Headquarters CITES Specialist)
> USDA-APHIS-PPQ
> 4700 River Road
> Plant Safeguarding & Pest Identification
> Riverdale, MD 20737-1236
>
>
>
>
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>
>
>                       Plant Conservation
>                       <plant at plantconservation.org>                  To:
<native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>
>                       Sent by:                                       cc:
>                       native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconse
Subject: [PCA] QUESTION: Destruction of Seeds (fwd)
>                       rvation.org
>
>
>                       03/22/2005 05:14 PM
>
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>
> I'm curious if anyone has had similar experiences or can outline the
> policy and/or reasoning concerning the topic in this e-mail from Lauri.
>
> Olivia
> SER/PCA
> http://www.nps.gov/plants/
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Sun, 20 Mar 2005 20:25:49 +0100
> From: Lauri Coulombe <lauri at coulombe.info>
> To: plant at plantconservation.org
> Subject: destruction of highly endangered plant seeds
>
> I was wondering if you could help me figure out how to take action on a
> specific issue. The palm tree species Pritchardia remota, native to
Hawaii,
> is virtually extinct in the wild and it only lives because people
propagate
> it. While it is prohibited to take the plants out of Hawaii, it is not
> illegal to take the seeds out as long as they are acknowledged to be from
> cultivated origin (this is according to the USDA website).  Recently a
> friend in Europe shipped some of these seeds to California (he has also
> supplied seeds to the Millennium Seed Bank at the Royal Botanic Garden at
> Kew). He was unaware of the necessity of marking the label to indicate
they
> were from cultivation, and so the USDA confiscated the seeds and, instead
> of
> sending them back indicating they must be labeled or doing something else
> productive with them, they DESTROYED them! How is this different from
> killing an endangered plant or animal? If someone was trying to move a
> Panda
> and it didn't have the required paperwork they wouldn't put the Panda to
> sleep! This is absolutely absurd; if the USDA was really concerned about
> protecting this plant they would not have incinerated these seeds.  I
> really
> want to take some action on this, particularly as I've heard of other such
> practices exercised by the USDA as well as the Fish and Wildlife Service.
> If the very government agencies that are supposed to be protecting our
> wildlife are destroying it, what hope do we have?
> Thank you for your time.
> Lauri D. Coulombe
>
>
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