Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

Botany Bill HR1572

Royal Catchfly (Silene regia) outstanding amongst the Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) and Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). Photo by Joan Rudolph

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 is similar to the version from the 115th Congress. 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.

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 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

Summary of HR1572

Track the bill’s progress

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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Help Update WI Invasive Species Rules

Baby’s breath (Gypsophila paniculata) is not yet regulated in Wisconsin, but as you can see from this photo it does have a tendency to take over in a wild setting. Photo by Emmet Judziewicz co-author of Wildflowers of Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region: A Comprehensive Field Guide.

The Wisconsin Legislature created the Wisconsin Invasive Species Council to assist the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in establishing a statewide program to control invasive species. Wisconsin’s invasive species rule, NR Chapter 40, was enacted in 2009 and last revised in 2015.

Efforts are currently underway to compile a list of new potentially invasive species, establish species assessment groups (SAGs) to review these species for potential regulation, and make recommendations for potential changes to the rule to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Nominate a Species!

The Council is currently taking recommendations for species to be considered for potential regulation under Wisconsin’s invasive species rule, NR Chapter 40. You can nominate a species you’d like considered for regulation by completed this survey.  (Note: many invasive species are already regulated under NR 40, so check the current list of regulated species to see if your suggestion might already be listed.)  Plants only.

In addition to new species to consider, you can also nominate a species for re-assessment (i.e., moving from prohibited to restricted; or restricted to non regulated), or make any other suggested changes to the rule.  Survey

The deadline for submitting species nominations or suggesting other changes to the rule is midnight on Friday, January 4, 2019.

Your feedback will help the Wisconsin Invasive Species Council determine new efforts needed to revise Wisconsin’s invasive species rule, NR Chapter 40.

Take Survey

Statewide Strategic Plan for Invasive Species 2013-2016

Thank you Mariquita Sheehan for bringing this survey to my attention.

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US Farm Bill to Restrict Local Pesticide Ordinances

The US House has added a provision to “the federal farm bill that would block cities, counties and school districts from restricting the use of toxic pesticides on playgrounds and parks.” “That would include ordinances that prohibit the use of glyphosate — the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer — in parks and playgrounds.” (AgMag)

So far the US Senate does not contain a similar provision.

Needless to say, there are many cities, not-for-profit organizations and others raising their voices in opposition to Section 9101 of the House bill.

In all, passing of this section of the Farm Bill will eliminate 155 known municipal ordinances regulating the use of pesticides in public spaces. Some states already have laws restricting municipalities from enacting their own ordinances against the use of pesticides, but this federal law would override all such laws.

For more details on Section 9101 of the Farm Bill, go to Recognition and Role of State Lead Agencies.

If you wish to express your concerns one way or another, communicate with your representatives and senators. Go to House.gov and Senate.gov to find their contact information.

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Court Orders Ban on Widely used Pesticide

On August 9, 2018, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ordered the EPA to remove a widely used pesticide on food crops from sale in the United States within 60 days. The Court ruled EPA endangered public health by keeping chlorpyrifos on the market despite scientific evidence which indicated that even tiny levels of exposure are linked to learning disabilities in children.

In 2017, a coalition of farmworkers and environmental groups sued the EPA after it reversed a 2015 ban on the use of chlorpyrifos. This pesticide is typically sprayed on citrus fruit, apples, nuts, broccoli and other food crops including cereal crops and alfalfa (totaling 50+). It came from another one of the chemicals developed by Nazi Germany to be used as a nerve gas. [Read more…]