Marguerite English wrote: > Seems to me that the government doesn't have a charter for this. What > about the Lily group or even PBS developing a program to propagate and > distribute such species, and working for a legal way to handle protected > species. This could start with rescue of threatened populations. It > would require someone to come up with a well-defined program, and an > adequate means of distribution. Could this be a more effective way to > go about the protection of endangered plants? > > Jim McKenney wrote: >> It occurred to me that it would make good sense to have government >> subsidized programs to propagate certain endangered plant species and to >> support their establishment as commercial crops. > Seems to me a couple things are not being mentioned here, such as the fact that if a private (ie, commercial) source were to make endangered species available, there would be no need for a government worker to do the "rescue", and no need for a government manager to submit grant requests, etc. Big brother has repeatedly shown that only big brother is looking out for what is best for us--even if we disagree. The North American Lily Society has an affiliated group-- called the Species Lily Preservation Group, with a propagation and distribution (sales)program. Membership requires dues (to the SPLG). I don't happen to be a member, so I don't know to what extent the recent illness of Ed McRae has affected the program, but other members of PBS are, and probably can give further details. The URL for the lily society is: http://www.lilies.org/ The Species Lily Preservation Group: http://www.lilies.org/slpg.html Dues are listed at $12.00/year. In these days of tissue culture, it only takes a stem tip, or an immature bud, to produce thousands of plants--or any number desired. The techniques and procedures are known, the facilities are available, it just takes money, a little time, and the willingness on the part of big brother to allow it to happen. We could be re-establishing rare/endangered plant species back into suitable habitats, without government funded programs. If big brother wants to fund it, it could be done without any more governmental programs. Alternatively, something like the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) or Forest Service, the Soil Conservation Service, or state land grant Universities could oversee this kind of program. Idealistic? Yes, but it could happen. Ken