On March 6, 2019 Representative Quigley (D-IL) and co-sponsor Representative Rooney (R-FL) reintroduced the “Botany Bill”* in the House of Representatives. The bill (HR1572) is similar to the version from the 115th Congress (HR1054). It supports plant research, the placement of botanists in the land management agencies, the plant conservation programs, the plant conservation alliance and NFWF grants for plant-related projects.
The creation of a native plant “preference policy” for federal land restoration has been slightly modified — under the new bill, the Departments of Interior and Agriculture will create a policy and disseminate it to other agencies. This modification dramatically cuts the number of committees required to review the bill and improves chances for action.
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.
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.
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 this bill yourself, you can also help by reaching out to your representatives and letting them know you support the bill and 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
The above notice is printed in part with permission of PCA – A collaborative effort of Plant Conservation Alliance – Non-federal Cooperators Committee
Chicago Botanic Garden & Garden Club of America
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