[PCA] FW: NPCC News: Historic Broad Support for Native Plant Conservation in Stimulus Funding Bill

Fri Jul 17 12:11:40 CDT 2020

Native Plant Conservation Campaign News: Historic efforts to fund plant conservation in stimulus bill offer new hope for plants!

July 17, 2020

Environmental groups and members of Congress showed unprecedented and historic bipartisan support for native plants in the drafting of H.R. 2 (Investing   <https://ymlpcl4.com/imgz/09yp_FloridaEBR450.jpg> in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation in America Act or the INVEST in America Act). H.R. 2 is the economic stimulus package recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to continue responding to the COVID crisis in the U.S.

No fewer than three efforts were made to allocate stimulus funding for projects and jobs in native plant conservation! The Native Plant Conservation Campaign collaborated in all three initiatives. 

In May, 207 environmental groups asked Congress <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepn5hi1xW9YmnPqoLEPEgwd0si5lVqm6zSl6S686k6O4XUng/viewform>  to include “full funding” for the National Seed Strategy <https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/national-seed-strategy>  in H.R. 2. Led by Western Watersheds Project <https://www.westernwatersheds.org/>  and Defenders of Wildlife <https://defenders.org/> , among others, this was the first independent effort to fund the Strategy. The Seed Strategy gives priority to locally adapted native plants in federal land management and establishes programs to research and produce local native seed. The U.S. is the first country on the planet to prioritize local native plants in this way <https://plantsocieties.cnps.org/index.php/initiatives-main/u-s-plant-initiatives#SeedStrategy> .

In June, Rep Mike Quigley (D-IL) submitted the Botany Bill (the Botanical Sciences and Native Plant Materials Research, Restoration, and Promotion Act, H.R. 1572/S. 2384 <https://botanybill.weebly.com/> ) as an amendment to H.R. 2. The Botany Bill, which was first introduced by Rep Quigley and Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) in 2016, seeks to improve funding, training and support for federal botany programs and to increase research into locally appropriate native plants. The amendment was supported by The Garden Club of America <https://www.gcamerica.org/> , Botanic Garden Conservation International – U.S <https://www.bgci.org/our-work/where-we-work/north-america/bgci-us/> ., the Center for Plant Conservation <https://saveplants.org/> , the American Public Gardens Association <https://www.publicgardens.org/> , and the Western Watersheds Project <https://www.westernwatersheds.org/> , among others.

Although, neither provision above was ultimately included in H.R. 2, sponsors and organizations continued vigorous support for both throughout the debate.

One native plant provision is in H.R. 2, however. In June, sponsors of the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act <https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Wildlife-Conservation/Policy/Recovering-Americas-Wildlife-Act>  (RAWA), led by the National Wildlife Federation <https://www.nwf.org/> , added funding for plant conservation to their proposal to include RAWA in H.R. 2. Sponsors had previously been reluctant <https://plantsocieties.cnps.org/images/Science_Plant_Conservation_Response_to_Malcom_et_al_2019_published_11720.pdf>  to include  explicit funding for plants in RAWA. The RAWA amendment, including the new plant funding, was accepted, and HR 2 has passed the House. Reps. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), and Debbie Dingell (D-MI) were all supportive of the amendment. Sponsors are now working on a companion bill in the Senate.

Reasons for this unprecedented surge in support for plants include the pollinator crisis, improved understanding of the role of native plants in delivering valuable ecosystem services <http://nativeplantsocietyofus.org/ecosystem-services-resources/>  such as storm and flood protection, water purification, and wildlife habitat, as well as expanded awareness that native plants require fewer chemicals and so can be both less expensive and less polluting.

The new support is also demonstrated by a January letter in the journal Science <https://plantsocieties.cnps.org/images/Science_Plant_Conservation_Response_to_Malcom_et_al_2019_published_11720.pdf>  “Fund Plant Conservation to Solve Biodiversity Crisis” which was coauthored by the Native Plant Conservation Campaign, the Plant Conservation Alliance Non-Federal Cooperators Committee, Center for Plant Conservation, Botanic Gardens Conservation International United States, and The Garden Club of America. Over 90 businesses, scientific societies, faith and other organizations <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KNRr4NmZhgTX3yD10mEg2oIzvc8nanXzk77bGO1LQsg/edit>  have signed on in support of greater funding for plant conservation.

The Native Plant Conservation Campaign thanks the elected officials and organizations who worked to include native plants in H.R 2 and so to support conservation and restoraton of resilient, healthy ecosystems, and the jobs, businesses, and local communities which depend on them.

Photo: Native mangroves on federal lands in Florida © Emily B. Roberson

________________________________________

Emil <http://plantsocieties.cnps.org/> y B. Roberson, Ph.D.

Native Plant Conservation Campaign <http://plantsocieties.cnps.org/> 

415 531 4439

emilyr@ <mailto:emilyr at plantsocieties.org> plantsocieties.org <mailto:emilyr at plantsocieties.org> 

#SavePlantsSaveThePlanet

The mission of the Native Plant Conservation Campaign is to promote the conservation of native plants and their habitats through collaboration, research, education, and advocacy.

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