Protecting native plants nationally with USDA-NRCS


by Eugene Kelly, Policy and Legislation Chair
A conservation buffer with native plants, photo by Jennifer Hopwood, Xerces Society
The Society recently had an opportunity to speak in support of native plants on a national basis. The USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) accepted comments on the Practice Standards they use while implementing Farm Bill[wikipedia] programs. Landowners can apply for funding assistance – typically on a cost-share basis – to make changes to their agricultural practices that achieve a variety of conservation benefits. The general substance or goal of a particular Practice Standard can often be surmised from the title. Examples of Practice Standards promoted by NRCS include Field Border, Forest Stand Improvement, Hedgerow Planting, Streambank and Shoreline Protection, and Upland Wildlife Habitat Management. And the conservation benefits of the practices are aligned with such Farm Bill objectives as reducing erosions, enhancing habitat for wildlife, and attracting pollinators.
One notable deficiency in current Practice Standards is a lack of emphasis on use of native plants when they are appropriate, and even advantageous. We understand the obvious advantages of native plants. When the National Wildlife Federation apprised the Society of this opportunity to recommend changes to the Practice Standards, they invited us to combine our voice with theirs. The eventual result was a joint letter to USDA recommending that most Practice Standards be updated to recommend the preferential use of native plants when they are suitable for the objectives of the practice. By the time the letter was submitted, 70 organizations were signatories and 8 of them were Native Plant Societies. In addition to FNPS, our compatriots in the California, Colorado, Illinois, Montana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia NPSs also signed on. Our friends at the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council were also included.

Letter | Press Release

Edited by Valerie Anderson, staff

Originally published in the Sabal Minor Vol. 21:3

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Florida Native Azaleas

Image
Piedmont Azalea, Rhododendron canescens. Photo by Lilly Anderson-Messec By Lilly Anderson-Messec While growing up in North Florida, I began to recognize the arrival of spring by the boisterous show of white, pink, and fuchsia blooms of azalea shrubs. The house I grew up in had large, mature azalea hedges with a variety of different colors and forms. Every spring, my mom would bring in vases full of them and my dad loved to point out the showy shrubs as we drove through town. I suppose I assumed these plants were native, but most likely I never gave it a thought. I didn’t differentiate a native plant from a non-native one because I didn’t yet know the importance of native plants as the basis of our functioning ecosystems. I was so surprised when I learned the azaleas I was so familiar with (Rhododendron indicum) are actually transplants from Asia! They are favored by the horticultural industry for their fast, vigorous, and dense growth of evergreen leaves and large, showy blooms. Curio...
Read more

Wednesday's Wildflower:Spanish Needle

Image
Spanish Needle, Bidens Alba Submitted by Donna Bollenbach, Suncoast Chapter Biden's alba , all photos by Donna Bollenbach Nothing attracts more butterflies and bees than a simple white flower called Bidens alba . Also called Romerillo, Beggar’s Tick, Spanish Needle or Monkey’s Lice, this Florida native wildflower is the third most reliable source of nectar for pollinators in our state. There would be many starving bees and butterflies if not for the Bidens family of flowers. More so, Bidens alba and its sister plant, Bidens pilosa , are both edible and have medicinal value. Yet, many gardeners have a love/hate relationship the plant, and some even consider it a pesky weed. Why?
Read more

Paradise Tree: Beautiful and Useful

Image
"The native Paradise tree is more useful than Google, and easy to grow." And how could any blogger resist leading off with this intriguing quote from the Key West Garden Club? I am a Master Gardener and a Master Naturalist, but I only know so much; so I always check out  statistics from experts before posting information about plants. I have a beautiful Paradise tree in my yard, it came from the raffle table at my chapter's program night about six years ago.   Paradise tree                Simarouba glauca For the first six years the little tree had a perfect, closed, cone shape; but just this summer I was astounded one morning to walk out and notice that my tree had changed. The canopy had begun to open up, there were open spaces between the layers of branches. It seemed to happen overnight. Proving again that a garden is constantly in motion, which is one of the fascinating things about o...
Read more