Thanks for the update & link, as a new member I'm encouraged to hear that the government does sometimes listen to those it's supposed to be serving. Karl On Apr 19, 2013 12:54 PM, "Michael Mace" <michaelcmace@gmail.com> wrote: > Folks, > > > > For those of you who have been following the US government's efforts to > tighten up the import rules on plants, the government just issued its final > ruling on the first batch of plants that will be banned from import out of > fear that they might become invasive. It's been a very long process with a > lot of back and forth discussion with the folks in Washington, but the > outcome is that they listened to us. Two "bulb" species that they had > proposed for import bans, Gladiolus undulatus and Alstroemeria aurea, have > been removed from the list. > > > > You can read the full ruling here: > > > > http://regulations.gov//… > > > > Your feedback helped show them that these two species were already > available > in the US (making an import ban irrelevant) and that they are not major > risks for becoming broadly invasive weeds. > > > > (Note that the definition for invasive weed in this case means something > that shows a tendency to escape into the wild and take over undisturbed > areas, not just something that moves around within a garden. They're > looking > for potential economic harm here.) > > > > I wish Roy Sachs had lived to see this. He was a PBS member, Alstroemeria > grower, and former chair of the Landscape/Environmental Horticulture > department at UC Davis. Roy was skeptical that the government would pay > any > attention to him, but he went ahead and sent them information on the > behavior of A. aurea in cultivation, and I think he had a big influence on > the government's decision. Good job, Roy! > > > > The other outcome of this process is that the government folks are much > more > aware of groups like ours, and are quite open to working with us in the > future to identify truly dangerous species and to find ways to import seeds > and plants in ways that reduce the risk of invasive pests. I think the > ball > is in our court to build a relationship with them and come up with creative > ideas on how to work together. The more we work with them up front, the > more > we can head off misguided regulations before they become a problem. > > > > Thanks to everyone who helped out by providing information about the > presence and behavior of these species. > > > > Mike > > San Jose, CA > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php > http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/ >