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37/77 survey participants took advantage of Q30
and told me more about how they feel about invasive plants.
5 feel
that the industry should govern itself, through market controls
and education and government should stay out of the issue. They
put it this way: “I don't know of many nurseries that sell the
big invasives - privet, honeysuckle, bittersweet, autumn olive,
but I definitely think that the industry should be regulated by
itself and its customers. Educate
the buyer and the market will be controlled.” And this way, “The
Standards committee for the ANLA
and several other committees do a very good job helping us govern
our industry. If we listen to frenzy groups or people with political
agendas things will really get screwed up.”
Another felt that “Government does not need to tell me any more
ways to stop selling product - they want my taxes don't they?”
One respondent just wants to “keep government agencies out of
my business!” By contrast, however, another respondents would
prefer that ANLA control the
entry and spread of invasives in the country, but they “do not
believe it can. I would expect that whatever branch of the government
does this have ANLA on in an official advisory roll.” One other
respondent was concerned with who decides what is invasive as
well.
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“I have attended meetings
of exotic plant councils and they spoke with disdain of
nurserymen. I believe that to a great extent they are parading
their own value judgments and ideology as science.”
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7 felt
that more “good” science needs to be done and more information
needs to be gathered about the issue. One said “while some species
may be easy to label invasive, … let’s use good scientific and
logical reasoning with others that are of value on some sites.”
Throughout the survey, respondents have brought up the regional
basis of plant invasions. In Q30,
2 respondents complained that invasive plant lists are too broad
and don’t address the regional nature of the problem. They felt
that some plants “happen to be good tough landscape value plants
and can be used very safely if you use them responsibly. Responsibility
is the key word. We are not a garden center so we use the appropriate
plant for the appropriate site.” One said that even a county basis
would be too broad, and another expressed the lack of application
of my survey to their desert area.
In regards
to screening introductions of new plants, one respondent said,
“How much testing would be required before a new plant could be
imported? What would it cost? Would new plant introductions be
in effect brought to a halt? Probably. I would like to see this
problem addressed, but I think we need to proceed very carefully.
I have attended meetings of exotic plant councils and they spoke
with disdain of nurserymen. I believe that to a great extent they
are parading their own value judgments and ideology as science.”
Another respondent, from Florida, echoed the sentiment that decision
makers and the industry do not cooperate, as well as the need
for science. “In Florida our exotic pest council seems to be very
aggressive but I'm not sure how much real science is behind the
lists they generate. In addition no industry members make for
very bad reactions from the industry itself. Local government
has been 'hit or miss' with their direction and enforcement. Larger,
broader leadership is needed at the state or federal levels.”
The media may also be a perpetrator of radical opinions, according
to a respondent, who said that “this discussion needs to be kept
away from the media and politicians so that a well thought out
plan can be worked out before people who know nothing about the
subject put their noses in.”
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“there
are no bad plants, just poor placement of certain plants”
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Many respondents felt that radicals or extremists are influencing
policy – not science. One said, “If any effort to curtail invasive
plants is to be effective it must be all inclusive for all areas
of horticulture and be based on good science not emotions and
scare tactics!” While another spoke of industry members
sounding extreme: “I love to hear the opinions of those searching
for the truth, there are too many people talking on this subject
that want to sound like an expert and they are damaging the industry,
in the cause of self-importance.” One respondent wants to see
the guidelines that determine invasiveness of plants, “the main
problem I see with invasive plant list I have seen is that at
least in Florida no set criteria or guidelines were used to place
a plant on the list. At this point it appears that anyone who
sees a plant "out of place" can request it appear on
the invasive list. This is not the way to support this effort
without specific guidelines. Until the invasive councils have
solid guidelines or approaches to listing plants and a mandate
to create such lists, the industry will have a problem agreeing
to invasive plants.”
7 respondents
felt that they and others in the industry needed to be educated
further about this. One expressed the need to “educate [landscape]
architects!!” One other agreed, and added landscape designers,
homeowners, and “end-users” as well. Another admitted, “I know
just enough to know I don't know nearly enough to speak on this
subject until I learn a lot more from studies such as this.” One
respondent felt that “education is better alternative than legislation”
because “there are no bad plants, just poor placement of certain
plants. Passing legislation to ban certain plants in all areas
across the nation (or even a state) would be a mistake.
Two respondents expressed a need for alternatives
to invasive species. One suggested developing cultivars, while
another suggested a government distribution of cultivars to offset
the slow uptake by nurseries of new policies. “Nurseries are business
that can be slow to change because of the natural for producing
crops and the money available for new product introduction. If
there was an effective efficient governmental program to distribute
Euonymous 'Rudy Haag' (a
variety of burning bush that is minimally invasive) The nurseries
could afford to and in a timely manner replace the production
of the straight species of burning bush.”
4 respondents on the eastern seaboard wanted more
discussion about invasive plants in their area, because it is
not currently a topic – they were from Richmond, Virginia; Westchester
County, New York; North Carolina; and Newark, Delaware.
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