[PCA] NEWS: Wildflower rescue groups often operate one step ahead of developer bulldozers

[Ellen Kuhlmann]

I agree w you Adolf, that most of plant salvage doesn't have a 
long-term positive effect on the downward trajectory many of our 
native habitats seem to be on.  Just about anyone who has worked in 
mitigation knows that recreating wetlands or other native plant 
communities is difficult to impossible.  You may be able to replicate 
the functions, but not the plant community.  Salvaging plants that 
are then incorporated into a garden may have some aesthetic or 
educational aspects, but it doesn't in any way have the integrity 
that a natural landscape has.  We should focus most efforts on 
habitat conservation, and think of salvage as an auxiliary activity, 
not as the salvation of the flowers.  This article showed the 
enthusiasm of the people 'saving the flowers' vs. the caution of the 
scientists, but it still came across overall as a pro-development 
piece.  -Ellen Kuhlmann  Bellingham, WA


At 08:15 AM 3/4/2008, Adolf Ceska wrote:
>What do you mean by "saving the flowers"? As the article indicates, most
>"flowers" just cannot be saved. In Canada, or correctly speaking, in British
>Columbia, we do not save the "flowers", we "salvage" them. But to what
>point? With the crazy uncontrolled development around Victoria, many people
>have gardens full of salvaged plants and are not really interested in
>"salvaging" more of them.
>
>Any development can get around the Environmental Assessment when the
>so-called environmental consulting firm gives the developer 50 or so pages
>copied directly from the "Harry Potter" and presents them as an
>Environmental Impact Study. As the recent case in the City of Langford
>development shows, you can sue the protesters on the base ofof such a nicely
>looking Environmental Impact Study ("Harry Potter Study"), and put them in
>the jail.
>
>I heard about the case when the ecologists working on a pipeline route were
>asked to "translocate" plants of Botrychium sp. The crew dug them up, never
>mind that they did not get the corms, and stuck them away from the pipeline
>route. Mission accomplished, and we can sleep without any bad dreams. As we
>all know, it really does not matter too much, if you "translocate"
>Botrychium plants with or without the corms, they will die regardless.
>
>If you want to change the system, you have to start in Grade 4 to 7. The
>curriculum of the Canadian schools require to know only one plant and that
>is dandelion in those grades. I do not know what the situation is in the
>USA, but I do not have too much illusions that it would be better.
>
>Good luck,
>
>Adolf
>
>Adolf  Ceska, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org
>[mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of
>Olivia Kwong
>Sent: March-04-08 7:32 AM
>To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org
>Subject: [PCA] NEWS: Wildflower rescue groups often operate one step ahead
>of developer bulldozers
>
>http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jAEtHPsN8beCRoj2kDq0TvpRyuuw
>
>Wildflower rescue groups often operate one step ahead of developer
>bulldozers
>The Canadian Press
>16 hours ago
>
>Before the bulldozers arrive, Jane Pausch is there to save the flowers.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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