Re: Concern for us collectors(Please Read)

Very well said, Gene.

I certainly can't offer any insight on the problem.  My husband and I are
great lovers of the island state of Hawaii. We are also professional
ecologists (does not necessarily = environmentalist). It's heartbreaking to
see what the accidental and intentional introduction of exotics has done to
Hawaii. Our grandchildren will not know even the Hawaii we know today; the
changes are taking place so fast.

We had a seminar at work several months ago..where the speaker, an
evolutionary biologist, stated that because of the ease of worldwide travel
and commerce, there is no way to prevent invasion by exotics, only minimize
it.  "Weedy" organisms are simply too good at hitchhiking.  The world is
becoming more and more botanically homogeneous....And of course, we
gardeners bear some of the blame. Even if we refuse to grow purple
loosestrife, or Hall's honeysuckle, or any of a number of other so-called
invasive species, by purchasing and growing plants collected around the
world, we contribute to the homogenization process.

The genii is out of the bottle, I'm afraid, and no amount of  regulation
and policing, governmental or personal, will put it back.

Gerry

At 11:31 AM 7/30/00 -0400, you wrote:
>hello Connie,
>    This one has been around for some time. It pops up ever 6 months or so
in the
>nursery trade magazine in one form or another.
>    Yes it is "serious" and is not going to go away. What form it actually
ends up
>being is any one's guess.
>    To a large degree this initiative is the results of a grass roots
movement
>that has been escalating for some years now. The conversation groups,
native plant
>societies. "Exotics" and "non-native invasives" are buzz words now. All of
the
>groups I belong to have one or two meetings a year on nothing but these
subjects.
>All the major gardening magazines have picked up on the subject as have the
>newspapers. It is a hot button that gets fast interest and reaction.
>    I have nothing against having my level of "enlightenment" raised a
notch or
>two on occasion, but this topic will continue to be mostly knee-jerk
reactions for
>some time. Like all movements, fads and forced enlightments it will go too
far to
>one extreme and then changes will begin to occur to correct the
process.... mostly
>after the button has worn out an no longer easily pushed.
>    The U.S. is one hey of a big and very divers county. What is invasive
in you
>neck of the woods may or may not be invasive in my garden. We go through
that one
>all the time here on these gardening lists.
>    If events happened exactly as the "whitepaper" envisions then I along
with
>most other small nurseries are out of business. I, however, do not think
it will
>end up that way. Will there be more legislation on import of plants?
Probably.
>Government is the worse offender and needs to clean its own house first.
>    Gene Bush     Southern Indiana    Zone 6a     Munchkin Nursery
>          around the woods - around the world
>genebush@otherside.com     http://www.munchkinnursery.com
>----- Original Message -----
>From: connie hoy <coneh@USWEST.NET>
>Subject: [SG] Concern for us collectors(Please Read)
>
>
>> 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.html
>lots of snipping.....
>
>
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