Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

NASA GLOBE Observer App

NASA would like your help in measuring the Earth’s trees using the NASA GLOBE Observer app on your smart phone.

In September 2018, NASA launched an instrument, via the ICESat-2 satellite, called ATLAS which measures many ecological surfaces to determine the health of the world’s resources. This laser-like device measures the satellite’s position, the angle and how long it takes the laser beam to bounce back from the surface it is measuring. They’ve been measuring the elevation of the Earth’s ice, land, water, clouds, and now trees. Here’s where citizen scientists come in.

NASA would like citizen scientists to help validate the tree measurements they are taking from space. By knowing the height of trees, researchers can estimate the health of the Earth’s forests and calculate the amount of carbon dioxide they store.

NASA GLOBE Observer App

The NASA GLOBE Observer app is user-friendly. Besides measuring trees, among other things, it also measures the landscape around you and mosquito habitats. It has a tutorial and helpful hints.

Once you’ve selected your straight tree and staked out a spot about 25 to 75 feet away, you hold the phone in front of your face and angle it to measure the base and then to the tree’s top. Then you take a picture, count your steps to the tree, log your position at its base and the app will calculate the tree’s height. (Verge)

Thanks to the Ecological Landscape Alliance (ELA) for making me aware of this great app.

   Send article as PDF   

Botany Bill S2384

Reference my earlier post on the House Botany Bill HR1572. In July 2018, Senator Mazie K Hirono introduced the Senate version of the Botany Bill (S3240) with three co-sponsors. This past July 2019, she re-introduced her bill in the Senate with ten co-sponsors as S2384.

Royal Catchfly (Silene regia) outstanding amongst the Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta). All make a great combo in any landscape. Photo by Joan Rudolph

Similar to the House version of the bill, S2384 promotes native plant research and use by:

  • Establish a competitive grant program within the Department of the Interior (DOI) to states, territories, tribes and Native Hawaiian organizations, local governments, and non-profit organizations for projects that conserve and promote populations of rare plants that are close to becoming endangered and help endangered plant populations recover.
  • Promote the hiring of botanists within the DOI and provide monetary incentives to attract and retain botanists through a student loan repayment program;
  • Instruct the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Defense to provide preference to native plant materials in land management projects and justify the use of non-native plant materials;
  • Require that native plant materials receive preference and are subsequently used in surface transportation projects and federal building design;
  • Promote interagency cooperation for various activities relating to native plants; and
  • Direct the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to incorporate into existing activities native plant conservation.

The bill has been referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture.

The full text of the Senate bill S2384, actually entitled the Botanical Sciences and Native Plant Materials Research, Restoration and Promotion Act, can be found at Senate Botany Bill. There is also a one page summary and a section-by-section breakdown available.

Update on HR1572

Having died in a previous Congress (HR1054), this bill was re-introduced in as HR1572 in March 2019 and has been referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Agriculture.

Botany Bill* Website

Visit the Botany Bill website for more information and helpful resources to help you get to know the bill and navigate the legislative process. Watch the Botany Bill website for updates on the bill’s progress or sign up for the Botany Bill Mailing List.

Endorsement

To successfully work its way through Congress, this bill will need as many organizations as possible to endorse the bill. If any botany-related organizations to which you belong have not already endorsed this bill, please bring this to their attention and ask them to let Plant Conservation Alliance – Non-federal Cooperators Committee Chicago Botanic Garden & Garden Club of America know if your name can be added as an endorsing organization (PCA) know they’d like to support HR1572 and S2384.

On the other hand, if your organization endorsed the previous Botany Bill (HR1054; S3240), PCA will  assume it wishes to endorse the current bill. If it does not wish to endorse the current bill, however, it must contact PCA to let them know it is NOT interested in endorsing the current version.

Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) standing above the Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). Left, Swamp Aster (Symphyotrichum puniceum) towers overall as it grows to maturity. Photo by Joan Rudloph

What can you do to help?

We as individuals need to push for this legislation. Please take a minute to forward this email to like-minded friends, colleagues and professional acquaintances.

Besides endorsing these bills yourself, you can also help by reaching out to your representatives and senators to let them know you support these bills and to ask them to co-sponsor/sign-on to the bill. E-mail or call your representative or make an in-person visit to their local or DC office. To write to your legislators to express your opinion about this bill, go to Congress.gov.

*Full name: The Botanical Sciences and Native Plant Materials Research, Restoration, and Promotion Act

 

   Send article as PDF