In association with the California Native Plant Society, the Native Plant Conservation Campaign and its website promotes the conservation of native plants and their habitats through collaboration, education, and advocacy. It is a network of affiliate native plant societies, botanical gardens and … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2016
The Botanical Sciences & Native Plant 3Rs Act
If you belong to a native plant organization, you might want to bring this pending federal bill to their attention. Formally, it is called The Botanical Sciences and Native Plant Research, Restriction and Promotion Act. Its purpose is to help increase botanical capacity and demand for native plant … [Read more...]
Herbaria – A thing of the past?
The 2017 fiscal year spending bill approved by the House Appropriations Committee for Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) and Related Agencies reduced the amount of money the National Science Foundation (NSF) would receive -- a $57 million decrease over FY 2016. As a side note, this bill again rescinds … [Read more...]
Wildfires
In the last 15 years, the US Department of Interior (USDOI) has exceeded its wildfire suppression budget six times. That’s because catastrophic wildfires, which account for only 2 percent of fires, consume 30 percent of budgeted funds for fire suppression. This creates a catch-22 … [Read more...]
Unintended Consequences of Rural Buffer Zones
We've thought for some time overspray and drift into rural buffer zones from insecticide treated crops affects insects, but now there is proof. A scientific study conducted in Brookings, South Dakota has concluded the strips of rural habitat being grown near cropland have unintentionally negatively … [Read more...]
Penstemons – Montana/Wyoming
I've never given much thought to the native plant called penstemon. They are pretty. But we only have a few varieties here in Wisconsin, and the most common is smooth penstemon (Penstemon digitalis) that has seeds that smell like sour milk, so I haven't been too concerned. Kristin and I attended … [Read more...]