White list concerns

David wrote:

>I don't know if this topic was ever further explored
>after its first mention on this list.  I think it will
>be of great interest to many people, as it proposes to
>make major changes on what new plants,(among other
>things), would be allowed into the country. 

Yeah, I'm pretty disturbed at the white list concept.  The
basic principle is guilty until proven innocent, in terms of
both the plants and the growers.  If something is not proven
to be non-invasive, it cannot be imported.  In practice,
that means only companies with a lot of money to spend on
testing could import seeds or plants of anything not already
on the government-approved list.  

The assumption is that imported seeds and plants are
dangerous, and that the people who import them can't be
trusted to grow them responsibly.  Different countries have
different philosophies, and in some places this would be a
fairly normal way for the government to operate.  But it's
pretty radical behavior for the US.

Some people seem to be gradually getting stirred up about
this subject.  For example, there's a very angry article in
the latest magazine of the California Rare Fruit Growers.

The trouble is that the goal is admirable -- make sure
non-native plants don't run wild and destroy the ecosystem. 
For example, if I could go back and stop the Spanish
settlers from introducing annual grasses into California,
I'd do it in a second.  But aren't there less drastic ways
to prevent that sort of thing?  The imported grasses didn't
just jump over here by accident, after all -- they were
deliberately and very broadly planted.

How many of the non-native plant problems in the US have
been caused by plants imported directly by amateurs for
private use in their own gardens?  Star thistle?  From what
I hear it came over accidentally in animal feed; no
regulation (other than a ban on imports of all feed) would
have stopped it.  Scotch Broom?  Escaped after being
distributed widely in the nursery trade, I believe.  Correct
me if I'm wrong, folks.

Why not focus on the broad-scale distribution of plants, if
that's the real threat?  Why not create standards for how a
private person should grow non-native plants when they
import them (for example, how far to keep them from open
land, etc)?.  It's not like anyone would go to the trouble
of
importing very expensive seeds from, say, Jim and Jenny
Archibald, and would then toss them all over the
neighborhood.  It seems to me there are some other things we
could try before we take drastic measures like banning an
entire category of activity (and by the way authorizing the
government to open all the mail you get from overseas in
order to enforce it).

There's a long history in the US of lame duck presidents
enacting a lot of rules by fiat after the election is over. 
I think we're heading for that in this case.  That means
there's not much time left to protest.  There has been a
quiet campaign to build support for white list regulations,
including the placement of an article in Business Week of
all places a couple of months ago.  They're usually very
skeptical about government regulations, but when you attach
the label "environment" to something a lot of reflexes seem
to be paralyzed.

It's a pity.  In pursuit of a noble goal, I think we're
headed for a solution that's like treating an infected
toe with high amputation.

Mike
San Jose, CA
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