Re: The Scientist :: Frontlines | Plant Police GoOnline, Sep. 22,2003

Thanks for the synopsis - now I know what y'all are talking about!!

:-)

---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: "Kitty" <kmrsy@comcast.net>
Reply-To: gardenchat@hort.net
Date:  Sun, 21 Sep 2003 11:54:26 -0500

>Pam,
>Tony's URL took me right to it.  However, I think that, like similar news
>sites, stories are available to the general public for a limited time -
>sometimes a day, others a week - then it is archived for members.
>Just checked it again and it's still available,  I may have signed up at one
>time and it still recognizes my computer (though I have cleared my temps,
>history, and cookies since that time) It's brief; here it is:
>
>Defending the United States against invaders of the vegetative variety is a
>job that airport agriculture inspectors can't handle alone anymore. Internet
>plant vendors have proliferated like kudzu, creating a problem requiring a
>Web-based solution.
>
>"You've got folks shipping things among states and from outside the US
>through the mail; it represented just a whole new pathway for invasive
>species," says entomologist and biomathematician Ronald Stinner, North
>Carolina State University, Raleigh. Working with the Animal and Plant Health
>Inspection Service (APHIS), Stinner's group is developing the Agricultural
>Internet Monitoring System (AIMS), a Web crawler and database program
>designed to find and track vendors of invasive plant species. It's set to
>launch in December.
>
>AIMS uses about 1,000 search terms, including taxonomic and common plant
>names, as well as terms typically used on commercial Web sites, such as
>MasterCard and order form. The program looks for sites that sell the
>offending species, so APHIS can contact the owners and tell them to stop.
>Big nurseries and importers know the rules, says Stinner, but "we now have
>thousands of mom-and-pop shops that were maybe raising herbs and wildflowers
>native to their area ... when they start selling them from North Carolina to
>California, you've got a problem." Aquatic plants sold in the aquarium
>trade, such as giant salvinia, are primary APHIS targets; in the wild,
>salvinia forms dense mats and blocks streams.
>
>APHIS hopes to sign cooperative agreements with countries in similar
>straits, such as Australia and New Zealand, so each participating country
>can stop their respective domestic vendors from shipping the plants
>overseas.
>
>--Christine Soares
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Pamela J. Evans" <gardenqueen@gbronline.com>
>To: <gardenchat@hort.net>
>Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2003 11:16 AM
>Subject: Re: [CHAT] The Scientist :: Frontlines | Plant Police Go Online,
>Sep. 22,2003
>
>
>> Is there any way to get to the text of the article w/out registering?  I
>can't seem to find a way to do it....
>>
>> ---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
>> From: Tony Veca <romans8@comcast.net>
>> Reply-To: gardenchat@hort.net
>> Date:  Sat, 20 Sep 2003 18:26:04 -0700
>>
>> >How about that,  now plant police???? Watch out you travelers!!!!!! LOL
>> >
>> >Tony Veca  <><
>> >Another Gr888 Day in Paradise !!!!!
>> >Vancouver, WA  USA
>> >
>> >
>> >http://www.the-scientist.com/yr2003/sep/upfront_030922.html
>> >
>>
>> --
>> Pam Evans
>> Kemp TX/zone 8A
>
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>

--
Pam Evans
Kemp TX/zone 8A



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