The first-ever Summit of Southeastern Native Plant Societies
Gene Kelly, FNPS president, says, "It really presents exciting possibilities that so many NPSs are interested in forming a coalition. I will include a more substantial summary and discussion about the Summit for the upcoming Sabal minor as my closing 'presidential' letter." Meanwhile here is a short summary he wrote for us:
"The first-ever Summit of Southeastern Native Plant Societies was a very constructive initial meeting, with participants representing the states of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
"There was complete agreement among the participants that a second Summit should be conducted in association with the Cullowhee Conference to be held in July 2011 in western North Carolina. A series of committees will be formed between now and the 2011 Summit to develop strategies or propose courses of action to address these shared issues:
1) defending and/or expanding protections for endangered plant species;
2) promoting land conservation;
3) preventing the introduction of new invasive plant species;
4) working across state lines to manage invasive species that are already present;
5) increasing the availability of native plants for use in habitat restoration projects and landscaping;
6) maintaining the genetic integrity of natural native plant populations; and
7) identifying administrative or organizational efficiencies that should be shared among the states.
"Committee chairs were assigned from among volunteer Summit delegates and the committees will be composed of representatives from among the participating states. Although several invited states were unable to attend the Summit, they will be invited to participate in the committees and to attend the 2011 Summit."
"I’ll also point out that Cullowhee is in the mountains of western NC, and is hosted every year by Western Carolina University on their campus. Our own Gil Nelson is a regular participant and speaker there and is Chair of the 2011 Steering Committee. Conference info and previous programs etc are posted on the Cullowhee Conference webpage. Peter Raven is scheduled to be a keynote speaker at the 2010 conference this July. Wow!"
The website for the conference is http://www.wcu.edu/5033.asp
"The first-ever Summit of Southeastern Native Plant Societies was a very constructive initial meeting, with participants representing the states of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
1) defending and/or expanding protections for endangered plant species;
2) promoting land conservation;
3) preventing the introduction of new invasive plant species;
4) working across state lines to manage invasive species that are already present;
5) increasing the availability of native plants for use in habitat restoration projects and landscaping;
6) maintaining the genetic integrity of natural native plant populations; and
7) identifying administrative or organizational efficiencies that should be shared among the states.
"Committee chairs were assigned from among volunteer Summit delegates and the committees will be composed of representatives from among the participating states. Although several invited states were unable to attend the Summit, they will be invited to participate in the committees and to attend the 2011 Summit."
"I’ll also point out that Cullowhee is in the mountains of western NC, and is hosted every year by Western Carolina University on their campus. Our own Gil Nelson is a regular participant and speaker there and is Chair of the 2011 Steering Committee. Conference info and previous programs etc are posted on the Cullowhee Conference webpage. Peter Raven is scheduled to be a keynote speaker at the 2010 conference this July. Wow!"
The website for the conference is http://www.wcu.edu/5033.asp
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