[PCA] Sowing Seeds of Rebirth - Chicago Tribune article, 10-30-2013

[De Angelis, Patricia]

With the author's permission, I am so pleased to share an excerpt from
"Sowing Seeds of Rebirth: Botanic Garden Researcher targets wildfires
impact," by Steve Johnson and published in the Chicago Tribune on October
30, 2013. (see below)

The article describes research underway at Chicago Botanic Garden to
gather, conserve, and research "native winners" - plant champions that can
help us restore, reclaim, and retain our native ecosystems. With so many
species to choose from, and each of them a vital part, you have to start
somewhere. So CBG is focusing on some plant species that show big promise
for helping us get a handle on our habitats (that can help stabilize the
soils after a fire and keep invasives from gaining a foothold), to "buy
time" so that conservation and research work can continue to be done on
other native plant species as well.

The research is accomplished through the direct and indirect cooperation of
a plethora of others who are conserving native plant species in the U.S.,
including the Bureau of Land Management who chairs the Plant Conservation
Alliance (PCA; http://www.nps.gov/plants/) - PCA, which brings this
listserve to you, represents a bevvy of federal/non-federal partners
working toward a common goal of solving the problems of native plant
extinction and native habitat restoration (
http://www.nps.gov/plants/coop.htm).

Many thanks to the author for permission to post this excerpt. I especially
like how he captured the science behind CBGs efforts and also the
researcher's passion for her work, and was able to write it in a way so
that the public can clearly understand the importance of this work. Please
see the excerpt and links below.

-Patricia

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife
Service-International Affairs
Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276

Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>

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Sowing Seeds of Rebirth: Botanic Garden Researcher targets wildfires impact
By Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 30, 2013, Arts and Entertainment,
pp. 1, 7

The connection between Colorado wildfires and an idyllic Chicago nature
haven isn't immediately apparent.

But the Chicago Botanic Garden (1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe;
chicagobotanic.org) is about more than a Japanese island garden or a bevy
of poinsettias at holiday time.

There's a building called the Rice Plant Conservation Science Center —
named for donors Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice, not the food staple — and
inside it science indeed occurs. That research includes Andrea Kramer's
work finding better plants to restore the Colorado botanical ecosystem in
the aftermath of the state's devastating series of fires.

Full article, with a couple of great photos, at:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-botanic-
forest-fire-research-20131031,0,209298.column
The Tribune also ran the full article on the same date under a different
title (*Chicago Botanic Garden leads research on restoring Western wildfire
land*), and that can be seen here:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-31/entertainment/chi-botanic-forest-fire-research-20131031_1_sage-grouse-colorado-river-cheatgrass
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