Re:Threat 4 plant lovers/collectors(Please Read)

 

connie hoy wrote:

Hello to all.
I am enclosing the following posts as it gives insite as to whats going
on within the industry and what the various agencies have pending to
regulate *anything* thought to be invasive..An exerpt states:
"It's been reported at http://www.geocities.com/nowhitelist/whtlist.htmlthat "The White List (or "clean list") is proposed legislation which
will extend government and corporate control over the possession,
importation and movement of anything that is alive - plants, animals
fungi, microorganisms, everything. Under current law, the government
controls or prohibits a limited list of pest species - agricultural
weeds, insect pests, dangerous pathogens, etc. Only species known to
cause problems are controlled. Under the White List, the government
will draw up a limited list of species it deems "safe", which will
continue to be legal to possess, move or import. All other species,
an estimated 99.75% of the Earth's biota will be considered "guilty
until proven innocent", presumed harmful or dangerous, and will be
prohibited."
 
 

Links as follows for direct info..*
http://www.safeguarding.org/

http://www.geocities.com/nowhitelist

I realize that this is a less than simple subject and dont pretend to
have all the answers but would like others thoughts,input.
Especially folks in the Nursery trade,seeds & others in the trade..

Do you feel this will effect your lively hood.?
Can we look forward to a 'cookie cutter plant world '.?
Would love to hear what others think.
Connie
Read below to read what is being said:
From:   <backlotgirl@u...>
              Date: Sun Jul 9, 2000 5:19am
              Subject: Nursery with anti-invasives policy

              I just got a letter from a friend, who says a place called
Heronswood
              Nursery, in Washington state, now has instituted a policy
against
              selling so-called invasive plants.  I haven't seen their
catalog, so
              I don't have first-hand knowledge, but here's basically
what my
              friend reports:  Heronswood Nursery has an enormous
selection of
              trees, shrubs, perennials, etc from all over the world; he
says he
              has ordered from them many times, and always received good
quality
              plants.  But now they no longer ship to Hawaii, and next
year they
              will not ship to Florida.  They say they've hired a
"consultant" from
              the Univ. of WA, who is called "a leader in the science of
invasive
              species".  This consultant is named Sarah Reichard; I
haven't heard
              of her, but maybe some of you have. ??? She is said to
have looked at
              the nursery's whole inventory, and determined which
species
              have "invasive potential" -- as my friend points out, just
how she
              figures this out is not stated!  The nursery has a new
symbol in its
              catalog for these potentially invasive species, the
letters PINV,
              with white letters inside a green oval.  I will quote
directly here
              from my friend's letter to me: "It gets worse. In the
future, they'll
              determine which species are invasive and where they'll be
invasive
              (again, how?). So, if you order something they feel will
be invasive
              in your area, they just won't ship it to you."   This is
pretty
              scary; I assume this is vouluntary on the part of this
nursery, but
              how long before all nurseries & seed companies are
mandated by law to
              perform this kind of pre-screening for all their
customers?

                Message 34 of 35
                                      From:   <romanstock@h...>
              Date: Sun Jul 9, 2000 5:39am
              Subject: Sarah Reichard

              Yes, I've read some of Sarah Reichard's stuff -- again,
its all based
              on the most faulty science you can imagine. In an article
somewhere
              I recall she actually had to admit that her notions of
predictability
              for invasives were all subjective. She tried a number of
variables
              to be able to "predict" which species would be "invasive",
and none
              of them were able to predict anything, until she tried
using the
              factor of a species being already invasive: if a species
was invasive
              someplace, then lo and behold, Dr. Reichard was able to
"predict"
              that it would be invasive! I kid you not; this was the
science
              behind her ability to discern "invasive potential". I'm
afraid I
              don't recall where I read about her prediction
investigations, but I
              can possibly dig it out at some point, or maybe somebody
else has the
              place and date on hand. Nightmarish to think about what's
in store
              for the world when this kind of thinking rules the day.

 
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