[PCA] Question on how other states list RTE plan

Starke, Lesley A lesley.starke at ncagr.gov
Wed Sep 8 13:18:15 CDT 2021


Hello all,



I'm Lesley Starke, the NC Plant Conservation Program Manager. The NC Plant Conservation Program is a state agency within the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.



To answer Rebecca's question for our state:

  1.  Yes, North Carolina has a state list of Protected Plant Species which are designated as Endangered, Threatened, or Special Concern (this last category has two subgroups: Special Concern-Vulnerable (being less imperiled than Threatened) and Special Concern-Historical). Importantly, "rare" species are not protected under this list, but they are regularly reviewed and tracked in our state by the NC Natural Heritage Program. The Rare Plant List published by this agency every two years reflects the legally protected species classifications as identified by the Plant Conservation Program. You can access the 2021 Rare Plant List with this link<https://www.ncnhp.org/media/518/open>. Our programs work very closely together with updates, data sharing, etc., but the two lists are functionally quite different.



  1.  The NC Plant Protection and Conservation Act of 1979 established the North Carolina Plant Conservation Board which has the authority to adopt and maintain a list of protected plant species for North Carolina as well as adopt regulations to protect them. This act is linked here<https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/ByArticle/Chapter_106/Article_19B.html>.

  1.  To make changes to the state list of protected plant species requires a legislative rule change. We just went through an update to our list earlier this year, with an update published May 1, 2021. The updated list and the rules and regulations associated with the list can be found at this link<http://reports.oah.state.nc.us/ncac/title%2002%20-%20agriculture%20and%20consumer%20services/chapter%2048%20-%20plant%20industry/subchapter%20f/subchapter%20f%20rules.html>. It is the Plant Conservation Board's policy to work with their designated Scientific Committee to update the state list of protected plant species every five years; however, this review timeframe is not codified in the regulations and is therefore subject to change, if needed.



I am happy to talk more with you about this, so please don't hesitate to contact me if you have additional questions.



All the best,

Lesley


Lesley Starke
NC Plant Conservation Program Manager
NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
919.707.3758 (office)
919.259.4189 (cell)
www.ncplant.com<http://www.ncplant.com/>

[PCP Seal_GreenwithRustColorRGB]

E-mail correspondence to and from this address may be subject to the North Carolina Public Records Law and may be disclosed to third parties.


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Hello PCA listserve members!  I would like to ask other states with plant programs the following questions:



(1) does their state legally-list plants as RTE species, and if so,

(2) what mechanism they use to list them?  (For example, do they house the list of RTE plants in a regulation, law, code, etc., or does a reg/law/code point to a list housed elsewhere like a website?)



Background:

PA maintains a list of RTE plant species in Pennsylvania, but it is an arduous task to update the list.  An Act (the Wild Resource Conservation Act<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.legis.state.pa.us*2FWU01*2FLI*2FLI*2FUS*2FHTM*2F1982*2F0*2F0170..HTM&data=04*7C01*7Crebbowen*40pa.gov*7C819abde73a844978579708d972e87c2a*7C418e284101284dd59b6c47fc5a9a1bde*7C0*7C0*7C637667168141393690*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0*3D*7C2000&sdata=hoywfEa2lWVPIBh4MJIwU*2FBArWMLZEKX9xfMqjI5Xaw*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!HYmSToo!L3lLYzIhYnRiCiqIgpXyBk8FqhwRfCDGnBdTvbX6WDPv58bcqAcy5rQYZgdhf5CF1wjryA$>) gives my agency (Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.dcnr.pa.gov*2FConservation*2FWildPlants*2FRareThreatenedAndEndangeredPlants*2FPages*2Fdefault.aspx&data=04*7C01*7Crebbowen*40pa.gov*7C819abde73a844978579708d972e87c2a*7C418e284101284dd59b6c47fc5a9a1bde*7C0*7C0*7C637667168141393690*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0*3D*7C2000&sdata=ZZ2fxO4OtDBGd5KKFijMkKL0OaVB*2FU3E6EJJRwbLg0c*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJQ!!HYmSToo!L3lLYzIhYnRiCiqIgpXyBk8FqhwRfCDGnBdTvbX6WDPv58bcqAcy5rQYZgdhf5DRD3xeWQ$>) the jurisdictional authority to list plants.  A regulation (Conservation of Native Wild Plants<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https*3A*2F*2Fwww.pacodeandbulletin.gov*2FDisplay*2Fpacode*3Ffile*3D*2Fsecure*2Fpacode*2Fdata*2F017*2Fchapter45*2Fchap45toc.html*26d*3D&data=04*7C01*7Crebbowen*40pa.gov*7C819abde73a844978579708d972e87c2a*7C418e284101284dd59b6c47fc5a9a1bde*7C0*7C0*7C637667168141403646*7CUnknown*7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0*3D*7C2000&sdata=1*2FAa1CEY1B39gHEtXNZbZDLpHpeQfD2EW8cYvHSc*2FnE*3D&reserved=0__;JSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUlJSUl!!HYmSToo!L3lLYzIhYnRiCiqIgpXyBk8FqhwRfCDGnBdTvbX6WDPv58bcqAcy5rQYZgdhf5CFEfdyoQ$>) houses the actual lists of legally-classified plants.  We have updated this list only a few times since its inception in the 1980s and it is in need of updating.  Our current legal guides are questioning whether the list should be in the regulation, stating that a regulation is not intended to be updated frequently, or not at all.  They are suggesting we look into moving the list outside of the regulation.  We were concerned that if we removed the list of classified plans from the regulation we would be weakening the "teeth" we have regarding enforcement (which isn't much to begin with).  We definitely want to make it easier for us to update the list and make it accurate but we worry that it would give less protection to plants.



I'm curious what other states do?  Thanks!!

Rebecca H. Bowen | Division Chief
Conservation Science and Ecological Resources
PA DCNR, Bureau of Forestry
Rachel Carson State Office Building
400 Market Street, 6th Floor | Harrisburg, PA  17101
Phone: 717-772-0258 | Cell: 717-941-0118 | Email:  rebbowen at pa.gov<mailto:rebbowen at pa.gov>
www.dcnr.state.pa.us<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/www.dcnr.state.pa.us/__;!!HYmSToo!L3lLYzIhYnRiCiqIgpXyBk8FqhwRfCDGnBdTvbX6WDPv58bcqAcy5rQYZgdhf5ALPszFCw$>

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