Thoughts on the importation discussion

Michael Mace mikemace@att.net
Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:53:13 PST
Okay, deep breath.  I'm going to de-lurk for a minute and try to be useful.

PBS is a great list.  As someone who suffered through the collapse of the
old Bulbs mailing list some years back, I really value this forum and would
hate to see it damaged.

At the same time, despite all of the tension expressed in recent days, I am
glad this discussion is happening.  Many of us in the US have been
enormously frustrated by the confusion and complexities involved in plant
importation, and by what feels like a distant and arbitrary government
decision-making process.  It sounds like some government officials have been
frustrated too.  There's a lot of pent-up emotion that needs to be burned
off, and that is always an ugly process.  But when that process is done I
hope we can settle down to have a productive discussion and maybe actually
influence the way the rules are developing.  That's what I think you're
offering, Mr. Aley, and if so I want to take you up on it.  I personally
think that with a productive dialog we could have a system that is both more
secure and easier for plant nuts to deal with.

The key is to *keep talking,* don't kick anyone out, and treat each other
with respect, the same as we would if we were talking face to face.  And I'd
like to ask that folks give each other a pass for what's been said so far.
Like I said, it's part of the frustration-release process, let it go.

In the meantime, the discussion has already been helpful to me because it
pointed out that you can apply for a plant import permit by mail.  I thought
you could do it only electronically, which in my case would have forced me
to drive two-plus hours each way to have a government official look at my
driver's license.

Thanks for that, you saved me a tank of gas.

Mike
San Jose, CA (zone 9, min temp 20F)

PS:   Once the discussion calms down, maybe we can talk about the whitelist
;-)



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