<div dir="ltr"><div>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)</div>
<div><br></div><div>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. <br>
</div><div><br></div><div>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; <a href="http://www.nps.gov/plants/" target="_blank">http://www.nps.gov/plants/</a>) - 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 (<a href="http://www.nps.gov/plants/coop.htm" target="_blank">http://www.nps.gov/plants/coop.htm</a>). </div>
<div><br></div><div><div>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. </div>
<div><br></div></div><div>-Patricia</div><br clear="all"><div><div>Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.</div><div>Botanist, Division of Scientific Authority-US Fish & Wildlife Service-International Affairs</div><div>Chair, Medicinal Plant Working Group-Plant Conservation Alliance</div>
<div>4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 110</div><div>Arlington, VA 22203</div><div>703-358-1708 x1753</div><div>FAX: 703-358-2276</div><div><br></div><div>Promoting sustainable use and conservation of our native medicinal plants. </div>
<div><<a href="http://www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal" target="_blank">www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal</a>></div><div><br></div><div>Follow International Affairs</div><div>> on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/USFWSInternatl" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/USFWSInternatl</a></div>
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<div><div><div>Sowing Seeds of Rebirth: Botanic Garden Researcher targets wildfires impact</div><div>By Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, Oct. 30, 2013, Arts and Entertainment, pp. 1, 7</div></div><div><p>The connection between Colorado wildfires and an idyllic Chicago nature haven isn't immediately apparent.</p>
<p>But the Chicago Botanic Garden (1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe; <a href="http://chicagobotanic.org/">chicagobotanic.org</a>) is about more than a Japanese island garden or a bevy of poinsettias at holiday time.</p><p>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.<br>
</p><p>Full article, with a couple of great photos, at: </p><p><span style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:underline"><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/" target="_blank">http://www.chicagotribune.com/</a></span><span style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:underline">entertainment/chi-botanic-</span><span style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:underline">forest-fire-research-20131031,</span><span style="font-size:13px;color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:arial,sans-serif;text-decoration:underline">0,209298.column</span></p>
<div>The Tribune also ran the full article on the same date under a different title (<i style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Chicago Botanic Garden leads research on restoring Western wildfire land</i>), and that can be seen here: <br>
</div><div><a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-31/entertainment/chi-botanic-forest-fire-research-20131031_1_sage-grouse-colorado-river-cheatgrass">http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-31/entertainment/chi-botanic-forest-fire-research-20131031_1_sage-grouse-colorado-river-cheatgrass</a></div>
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