[PCA] Plant Conservation Alliance General Meeting - Summary from July 10 Meeting

[De Angelis, Patricia]

Hello PCA listserve members,

Sharing a summary of the main items discussed on our last PCA meeting held
on July 10, 2019 (3-4pm EST), which was held remotely, by phone. Please
feel free to contact folks for further details, as mentioned below.

Introductions were made (see participants list below).

o   *Native Plant Roundtable:*

*Updates*

§  *Oak Conservation Alliance*- Ryan Huish (from the University of
Virginia's College at Wise and the Southwest Virginia Environmental
Education and Research Station (SVEERS)) announced the creation of the Oak
Conservation Alliance (OCA). The OCA is proposing to build a diverse
network of collaborators to help monitor and prevent the spread of diseases
affecting trees in the oak family, and to pool existing and future research
data together for spatial analyses, risk assessments, ecological impact
studies, and other proactive efforts to help preserve these valuable trees.
They have received a $5000 planning grant to organize the OCA and are
moving forward with it now. Ryan plans to provide more details on the PCA
listserve and will include a broad invitation to collaborate. If
interested, please contact Ryan at rdh5b at uvawise.edu for more details.

§  *IUCN Seed Conservation Group*- Patricia is now member. Kay and Becky
are also members.



*Upcoming Events*

§  *North American Congress for Conservation Biology*-The next meeting will
be held in Denver July 26-31, 2020 (
https://scbnorthamerica.org/index.php/naccb-2020/). It would be great to
highlight the PCA. If interested please contact Becky Hufft (
Rebecca.Hufft at botanicgardens.org).

§  *NatureServe’s Biodiversity without Boundaries*- April 19-22, 2020 in
Richmond, VA. Save the Date; information forthcoming on natureserve.org.

§  *Trillium workshop*- Fall 2019 by invitation only. Contact Anne (
anne_frances at natureserve.org) if interested.

§  *Natural Areas Association* *Conference- *Will be held in Pittsburgh, PA
in October 8-10, 2019. Registration open and more information can be found
here: https://www.naturalareas.org/current_conference_2019.php

§  *2020 Southeastern Partners in Plant Conservation- Will be held* March
2-6, 2020 at the Atlantic Botanical Garden. More information can be found
here:
https://atlantabg.org/conservation-research/outreach-education-and-training/southeastern-partners-in-plant-conservation/



o   *Federal Committee Update:*

§  *Federal Committee Meeting* was on June 26th with a focused on improving
implementation of the National Seed Strategy (NSS). The NSS needs to be
review and revise every 5 years. Discussions on action items from the June
26th meeting will continue at the September 11th.

§  *National Assessment of Seed Needs and Capacity- *The National Academies
of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has convened a new provisional
committee to study our nation’s seed supply, entitled “*An Assessment of
Native Seed Needs and Capacities.” *This study will address the first two
objectives under the National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and
Restoration
<https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/program_natural%20resources_seed%20strategy_quick%20link_seed%20stregy.pdf>
:

*Objective 1.1*: Assess the Seed Needs of Federal Agencies and the Capacity
of Private and Federal Producers

*Objective 1.2*: Assess Capacity and Needs of Tribes, States, Private
Sector Seed Producers, Nurseries, and Other Partners-

{Anybody interested in information about the National Academies assessment
of the demand for and supply of native seeds can learn more at:
https://www8.nationalacademies.org/pa/projectview.aspx?key=51174

{To follow the study, please send an email to seedneeds at nas.edu



o   *Nonfederal Committee Update:*

§  *Botany Bill- H.R. 1572- *A hearing is scheduled in the House Natural
Resources Committee (Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry) for
Thursday, July 18th. The Botany Bill promotes botanical research & sciences
capacity, generates demand for native plant materials, & authorizes related
federal activities. Be on the lookout for an email with a letter for all
endorsing organizations and individuals to sign prior to next Thursday’s
hearing.

§  Anne Frances/NatureServe and Krissa Skogen/Chicago Botanic Garden will
lead an outreach effort to liaise with state-based, taxon-based, and
regional plant conservation alliances (PCAs) & native plant conservation
initiatives (NPCIs) and forge greater mutual awareness and closer ties
between them and the PCA, including possibly developing a webinar
highlighting one or several for a 2020 PCA meeting.

{If interested in participating in a monthly call, please contact our PCA
representatives on this effort: Anne or Krissa (Anne_Frances at natureserve.org or
kskogen at chicagobotanic.org).

*Focus Topics:*

o   *UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration: *At our May PCA meeting, it was
suggested that we explore opportunities to highlight the contributions of
the National Seed Strategy as part of U.S. efforts to contribute to the "UN
Decade on Ecosystem Restoration" that will launch in 2020. An upcoming
conference of the Global Landscape Forum plans to shape the forthcoming UN
Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The one-day event in September 2019 will
advance new action coalitions and commitments for the UN Decade and offer a
Decade-long implementation platform to nature-based solutions.
https://events.globallandscapesforum.org/new-york-2019/

{If you have ever attended or plan on attending, please contact Patricia (
patricia_deangelis at fws.gov)

o   *Plant Performance Data Integration Project*: This endeavor will build
a national plant reference dataset to assist gardeners and landscapers
across the U.S. to select the best native plants to promote biodiversity.
The idea was conceived at National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture
(NICH) annual conference June 27-29, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia, and
catalyzed by at a panel discussion with the Plant Conservation Alliance
(PCA) November 14, 2018, in Washington D.C. The project could inform apps
and other user-friendly tools that would help bring locally native plant
options into the hands of consumers and landscape architects! Next call is
July 18th to talk about what a business model would be.

{If interested in participating in a monthly call, please contact our PCA
representatives on this effort: Anne or Molly (Anne_Frances at natureserve.org or
Molly_McCormick at usgs.gov)

o   *2020 PCA speaker planning:*

§  *Upcoming speakers already planned*

·         September 11, 2019 Pollinator partnership. Speaker will be
remote.

·         November 2019 Gerry Moore, USDA Plants, NRCS National Plant Data
Team

·         January 2020 Kirk Davies, precision restoration techniques

*{*Seeking volunteers to assist with 2020 speaker planning

*{*Taking suggestions for rest of 2020: March, May, July, September,
November

o   *{NEW ITEM: *Rebecca Hufft (Denver Botanic Garden) is co-chair for the
North American Congress for Conservation Biology. The next meeting will be
held in Denver July 26-31, 2020 (
https://scbnorthamerica.org/index.php/naccb-2020/). It would be great to
highlight the PCA. If folks have an interest or ideas for how you’d like to
see it included, please let me know.

*Closing remarks:* The next PCA meeting will be on September 11, 2-4pm
Eastern. We welcome speakers from Pollinator Partnership who will discuss
their work to develop native plant materials for pollinators. Details will
be shared over the PCA listserves
<https://www.blm.gov/site-page/pca-discussion-lists-0> and posted to the PCA
meetings <http://www.plantconservationalliance.org/meetings> Webpage.

*Social Media Reminders: *Twitter @NatSeedStrategy and
Facebook- at PlantConservationAlliance. If you have an item you wish to be
posted, please contact Leah or Eileen.

*Call Participants*

*Name*

*Organization*

*Contact*

Kristi Allen

PA PCA / Pennsylvania Plant Conservation Network

c-krallen at pa.gov

Steve Blackwell

Desert Botanical Garden

sblackwell at dbg.org

Thomas Brumbelow

USFWS

thomas_brumbelow at fws.gov

Patricia De Angelis

USFWS

patricia_deangelis at fws.gov

Chris Firestone

PA DCNR

cfirestone at pa.gov

Anne Frances

Nature Serve

Anne_Frances at natureserve.org

Kay Havens

Chicago Botanic Gardens

KHAVENS at chicagobotanic.org

Ryan Hewish

University of Virginia

Rdh5b at uvawise.edu

Virginia Houston

ASTA

Vhouston at amseed.org

Becky Hufft

Denver Botanic Garden

Rebecca.Hufft at botanicgardens.org

Ray Mims

United States Botanic Garden

rmims at aoc.gov

Eileen Nakahata

BLM

enakahata at blm.gov

Robin Schoen

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

RSchoen at nas.edu

Michelle Turton

USFWS

michelle_turton at fws.gov

Peter Vadas

USDA ARS

Peter.Vadas at ars.usda.gov
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