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<p class=nfs-heading1caps style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><b><u><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE </span></font></u></b></strong><strong><b><u><font
face="Times New Roman"><o:p></o:p></font></u></b></strong></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>New England Wild Flower Society <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Launches 3.8 Million Capital Campaign—$2.5
Million Already Raised<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=NFS-Body style='text-indent:.5in'><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;line-height:150%;text-transform:uppercase;font-weight:
bold'>Whately, </span></font></b><b><span style='font-weight:bold'> Mass.
—Wild Flower Society recently launched the “Growing
Connections” Campaign</span></b>, initiated from Garden in the Woods
headquarters in Framingham. Co-chairs Frances Clark and Lalor Burdick
announced the most ambitious fundraising effort ever undertaken by the 108-year
old conservation group. The Campaign aims to raise $3.8 million with $2.5 million
already raised, to support two critical initiatives of the Society for the
future of native plant conservation and horticulture. Groundbreaking takes
place mid-June for the Society’s LEED-certified Native Plant Center and
multi-use agricultural building at its Nasami Farm & Sanctuary in Whately,
Massachusetts, located in the Pioneer Valley, that already operates as the
largest grower of native plants in New England. The Growing Connections
Campaign will also endow the perpetual revision of the Society’s
comprehensive online flora of New England plants, to make accurate plant
identification accessible for all. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'>Commenting on the campaign goals, Frances Clark, Campaign
Co-Chair, Trustee and Conservation Consultant noted, </span>“Growing
native plants at Nasami Farm enables New England Wild Flower Society to promote
native plants throughout the whole of the region. Each time someone carries
away a plant, they spread the mission of the Society which is to preserve the
native plants and healthy ecosystems. For hundreds of years the Pioneer Valley
has maintained a farming legacy. The Society is committed to extending that
tradition into the future, and to bringing a new form of environmentally-sensitive
work with a whole new crop.” <o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'>The Native Plant Center will combine the Society’s propagation
and ecological expertise to support the habitat restoration projects that lie
at the heart of its conservation mission, and plans to develop and promote new
eco-industries including green roofs, and ecological landscaping. “As a
venerable non-profit organization focusing on sustainability, we ourselves must
be sustainable from a business and ecological point of view. We simultaneously
increase demand for native plants through outreach and education, while helping
the public understand the connection between native plants, healthy habitats,
and greener choices.. Nursery sales provided 40 percent of the Society’s
earned income in 2007, representing 16 percent of the overall budget,” continued
Clark. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'>“We are well on our way to developing the most
significant native plant nursery in the country,” said Ruah Donnelly,
Trustee, Chair of the Nasami Farm Building Committee, and Author of <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>The Adventurous Gardener. </span></i> “Collecting
local seed, creating an ecologically-responsible source of superb and beautiful
native plants—this is our aim, and the future of horticulture, and it
does not yet fully exist anywhere else. A sustainable and sensitive
relationship to our home ground that uses and combines plants that are native —that’s
where we are all headed. It’s possible for the Society to undertake this
enlightened program because of the generosity of previous Nasami Farm owners Bob
and Nancy August who long envisioned a combined nursery and sanctuary as the
future of their land,” continued Donnelly.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'>The Society is the regional representative for the Millennium
Seed Bank, a worldwide conservation effort led by the Royal Botanic Gardens,
Kew in England, to conserve seed for 10% of the world’s seed-bearing plant
species. Nasami Farm plays an important role in the effort to preserve selected
native plants of the Northeastern United States. Nasami’s new
agricultural building will include a state-of-the-art Seed Bank to aid in native
plant collection, propagation, and seed storage.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'>The Society’s nursery at Nasami Farm is not only a
leader in using increasingly ecological methods in producing native plants but
its new Native Plant Center is sustainably designed using “green”
building methods and sustainable materials. The Center will be a LEED-certified
building created by local builders using local materials, wherever possible.
The building’s ecological sensibility conforms perfectly with the town of
Whately’s commitment to local farms and the strong ethic in the Pioneer
Valley community to use and preserve fertile farmland. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'>Designed by Architerra, a Boston area green-focused
architecture and design firm, and to be built by Scapes, Builders and
Landscapers LLC, locally based in Conway, Massachusetts. Groundbreaking takes
place June 19 with completion scheduled for early summer, 2009. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=NFS-Body><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
line-height:150%'>Frances Clark shared details on the innovation of the online
flora project: “Through the <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Online New
England Flora</span></i> we can share botanical expertise with both amateurs
and plant specialists. We are developing the keys—literally— to
understanding the plant world of New England. By making it easier to learn the
names of native plants, everyone can engage in the fun, interest, and
excitement of the green world and become advocates for native plants and our
natural habitats. It all starts with knowing the names. The Flora is designed
especially for the next generation of stewards of the land to learn and enjoy
and therefore protect the future of native plants and their habitats,”
Clark noted. With support from the campaign the <i><span style='font-style:
italic'>Online New England Flora</span></i>, created by renowned New England
Wild Flower Society Botanist Arthur Haines, will be endowed for perpetual
updating, available to all. For more information, contact Dianne Butt, New
England Wild Flower Society Director of Development at 508-877-7630 x 3104 or <a
href="mailto:dbutt@newenglandwild.org">dbutt@newenglandwild.org</a>, or visit
the website at <a href="http://www.newenglandwild.org/">www.newenglandwild.org</a>.
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>-END-<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><font
size=2 color=gray face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:gray;font-weight:bold'>Debra Strick<br>
Marketing and Public Relations Director<br>
Curator of Visual Collections<br>
</span></font></b><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'><ns0:place w:insAuthor=" "
w:insDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z" w:endInsAuthor=" "
w:endInsDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"><font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>New
England</span></font></ns0:place><font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>
Wild Flower Society<br>
Garden in the Woods<br>
</span></font><ns0:Street w:insAuthor=" " w:insDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"
w:endInsAuthor=" " w:endInsDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"><ns0:address
w:insAuthor=" " w:insDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z" w:endInsAuthor=" "
w:endInsDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"><font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>180
Hemenway Road<br>
</span></font></ns0:address></ns0:Street><ns0:place w:insAuthor=" "
w:insDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z" w:endInsAuthor=" "
w:endInsDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"><ns0:City w:insAuthor=" "
w:insDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z" w:endInsAuthor=" "
w:endInsDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"><font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>Framingham</span></font></ns0:City><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray'>, </span></font><ns0:State w:insAuthor=" "
w:insDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z" w:endInsAuthor=" "
w:endInsDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"><font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>MA</span></font></ns0:State><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray'> </span></font><ns0:PostalCode
w:insAuthor=" " w:insDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z" w:endInsAuthor=" "
w:endInsDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"><font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>01701<br>
</span></font></ns0:PostalCode></ns0:place><font color=green><span
style='color:green'><a href="mailto:dstrick@newenglandWILD.org">dstrick@newenglandWILD.org</a><br>
508-877-7630 x 3501<br>
Fax: 508-877-3658<br>
<a href="http://www.newenglandWILD.org">www.newenglandWILD.org</a></span></font></span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:
bold'><ns0:place w:insAuthor=" " w:insDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"
w:endInsAuthor=" " w:endInsDate="2008-06-03T13:59:00Z"><font color=gray><span
style='color:gray'>New England</span></font></ns0:place><font color=gray><span
style='color:gray'> Wild Flower Society proudly presents<br>
</span></font></span></font></b><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>David Rogers'</span></font><b><font
size=2 color="#993300" face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:#993300;font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b><b><font color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-weight:bold'>BIG BUGS</span></font></b><b><font
size=2 color="#993300" face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;color:#993300;font-weight:bold'> </span></font></b><font size=2
color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>exhibit & Web-of-Life Extravaganza<br>
</span></font><em><b><i><font color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='color:gray;font-weight:bold;font-style:normal'>Garden in the Woods</span></font></i></b></em><b><font
size=2 color=gray face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:gray;font-weight:bold'><br>
July 12-October 31, 2008</span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><i><font
size=2 color=green face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:green;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>"See them the way they see
us"</span></font></i></b><b><i><font size=2 color=teal face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:teal;font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic'> </span></font></i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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