The PBS has in my opinion been one of the more educated and often opinionated chat groups I hang around in. Over the years I have come to respect members for their insight and willingness to look at the pros and cons of the International Plant Protection Organizations. Issues such as the chestnut blight have impacts on special interests groups. In our US eastern environs where the climax community once comprised of chestnut is in transition due to the movement and interactions of humans. This is nothing new, humans have shaped their environment for millennia. After all the first husbanded agricultural animal was probably a mollusk, indications of prehistoric snail farms and oyster distribution. The chestnuts are another example. Once considered the cradle to the grave tree by early Americans. Recently we discovered a peanut disease of which the spores are embedded into the exterior of the peanut shell. Probably not a big problem until you think of all the places peanut s hells end up. I suppose there are not many road house bars south of the Masion-Dixon line that offer free peanuts and the shells are dropped on the floor. What would be the odds of a peanut farmer taking a lunch break at a roadhouse dinner and walking over a carpet of peanut shells? What would be the chances of his shoes becoming a vector for that peanut disease? These are the unknown questions the NPPOs face in the attempt to apply regulations for the movement of plants and plant products. In terms of gmo transformation of natural environs, how many of us have a backyard devoid of exotic plant material? Or hybrid rye grass as a lawn. We all contribute to the influences of changing naturally occurring environments even if its planting South African bulbs in Southern California. The conversation dialog in the PBS is always educational in not entertaining. William Aley Sent from my iPhone