ADVOCACY AND SAVING PLANTS
Why We Advocate
Through its network of Conservation Partners, the Center for Plant Conservation works to protect native plants from extinction in the face of climate change, habitat loss, and impacts of invasive plants and animals. We advocate for action that will conserve threatened native plants and promote their recovery in the wild, as well as through ex situ collections and seed banking. Each plant species represents a unique set of strategies and an irreplaceable source of information about survival on planet Earth. We owe it to future generations to ensure that native plant diversity continues to thrive.
HOW CAN WE PROTECT RARE PLANTS?
Just as the Center for Plant Conservation is a community of practice around the science of plants, we are building a community of advocates, working from every angle, to get Congress to move on bills that protect the environment and rare and endangered plants.
This community of advocates needs to go beyond all of us–we must include our visitors, friends, families, community partners, and more to gain wide-spread national and global support for plant conservation. When we work together, our voices are amplified, making it possible to save more plants from extinction.
What We Do
As part of our mission, from time to time, the Center for Plant Conservation takes positions on relevant matters that affect our collective ability to Save Plants. The Center for Plant Conservation is a non-partisan, 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. By law, the Center for Plant Conservation does not promote political parties or candidates but does issue statements on legislation and other actions that affect conservation objectives.
The Center for Plant Conservation Advocacy Committee drafts position papers on relevant topics pertaining to plant conservation. The purpose of the position papers is to have an organizational approved position on issues related to our mission, to give the Center for Plant Conservation the guidance under which to take actions, and show our stance on issues to the public and network.
CPC Position PapersThe Center for Plant Conservation Advocacy Committee tracks federal legislation that have direct impact on the safeguarding of rare and endangered plants, plant conservation research, and restoration.
Current LegislationIf your organization would like to have us speak at your meeting or event, we’d love to share with you the amazing world of rare plant conservation – from collecting seeds of some of the rarest plants in the world, to the cutting-edge research needed to save these plants from extinction, please email us.
Contact UsExtinction Prevention and Species Recovery
We are focused on safeguarding and preventing the extinction of rare plant species, and ensuring that vulnerable species do not become endangered. Plants are essential to life, providing us with clean air to breathe, food to eat, medicine to heal, and more. At the same time, they nurture us through their endless beauty and variety. When we lose a species, the opportunity to understand its unique strategies for survival are lost forever. To help prevent extinction and promote species recovery, we support the Extinction Prevention Act and the Hawaii Native Species Conservation and Recovery Act. We encourage you to help save plants by contacting your senators and representatives and voicing your support for these important bills.
Land Restoration and Resiliency
Many native plants are at risk due to habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species, and declining numbers of pollinators. To save rare plants and conserve biodiversity, we work to maintain, restore, and recover native plant communities on national, state, and local public lands. It is critical to increase resiliency of these lands to the disruptive extremes caused by climate change, including wildfires, flooding, drought, and the spread of invasive non-native weeds. Seed banks offer an essential backup of ex situ genetic material and leverage the ability to prevent extinction and conserve biodiversity through preservation, restoration, and reintroduction. To promote land restoration and resiliency, we support the Land Restoration and Resiliency Act and legislation to create a National Interagency Seed and Restoration Center. We encourage you to help save plants by contacting your senators and representatives and voicing your support for these important bills.
Preserving Native Habitat on Public Lands
National parks, forests and public lands conserve natural resources and diverse native ecosystems of plants, pollinators and wildlife. They provide critical refuge areas for wild plant populations experiencing habitat loss elsewhere and contribute to carbon sequestration with intact trees, grasslands, and natural areas. They encompass wetlands, rivers, and riparian corridors. These diverse lands are essential to conservation in a time of climate change and habitat reduction, fragmentation, and degradation. To encourage preservation of native habitat on public lands, we support the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, the Save Our Sequoias Act, and Recovering America’s Wildlife Act. We encourage you to help save plants by contacting your senators and representatives and voicing your support for these important bills.
Climate Change and Biodiversity
The two most significant – and intertwined – crises facing humanity are globally plummeting biodiversity and climate change. The main drivers of biodiversity decline are habitat loss and degradation, followed by climate change and pollution – both correlated with burning of fossil fuels. We have lost almost half of earth’s ecosystems, and wildlife abundance has declined by over two thirds since 1970 as the native plants that sustain our ecosystems disappear. As climate change accelerates, the rate of species loss is projected to increase sharply from 5% at 2°C of warming to 16% at our current trajectory of 4.3°C. Increasing heat will also threaten critical crops due to drought and germination failure. To protect threatened species and their habitats, help plants adapt as the climate warms, and promote a transition away from fossil fuels, we support America’s Revegetation and Carbon Sequestration Act and resolutions to establish a National Biodiversity Strategy. We encourage you to help save plants by contacting your senators and representatives and voicing your support for these important bills.
Protecting Pollinators and Ecosystems
Pollinators are keystone species in most terrestrial ecosystems. Unfortunately, the essential service of pollination – the very lifeblood of both plant and pollinator species survival – is at risk due to habitat loss, pesticide use, and disease. Pollinators are essential to the continued existence of 80% of all plants and 90% of flowering plants, making the work of preserving plants inextricably linked to the work of preserving pollinators. To protect pollinators and the ecosystems they serve, we support Saving America’s Pollinators Act and current and future Resolutions designating April as National Native Plant Month. We encourage you to help save plants by contacting your senators and representatives and voicing your support for these important bills.
Water Conservation and Coastal Health
The health of humans and wildlife depends on the health of our oceans, rivers, lakes, and aquifers. Oceans cover three-quarters of Earth’s surface – the world’s largest ecosystems – and are home to over a million species of plants and animals. Millions of acres of coastal salt marshes, mangroves, and grasslands support plants that shelter and feed wildlife, absorb carbon, and protect coasts from storms and sea level rise. Our rivers and aquifers provide lifegiving waters for people and crops alike. To protect ocean health, rebuild coastal ecosystems, and conserve our waters, we support the Clean Water Act, the Land and Water Conservation Fund Water Amendments Act, and the Coastal Habitat Conservation Act. We encourage you to help save plants by contacting your senators and representatives and voicing your support for these important bills.
What You Can Do
Every action matters when it comes to saving plants. Whether it is becoming well versed on native and rare plants in your region, sending emails to your policy makers in support of plant conservation or sharing the work of the Center for Plant Conservation with others, these individual actions add up to big, positive change for plants.
Sign up to the Center for Plant Conservation email list and receive timely action alerts and our monthly newsletter. You will keep up to date on the latest in plant conservation and be the first to know when relevant plant conservation legislation is being heard in Congress.
SIGN UP FOR EMAIL LISTFrom time to time, we will reach out to our community and ask you to lend your voice to saving plants. If you need to find out how to contact your Representative or Senator in the United States Congress, click below.
FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVEThe Center for Plant Conservation maintains a collection of more than 2,000 of America’s most imperiled native plants through its network of world class botanical gardens. To dig deeper into the status of these plants, please visit our National Collection.
NATIONAL COLLECTIONPhotos
Panelists (left to right) Dr. Emily E.D. Coffey, Wesley Knapp, Dr. Lucinda McDade, and Dr. William (Ned) Boston Friedman at CPC's inaugural Native Plant Summit hosted at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, MA, in October 2023. The summit served as a platform for esteemed experts, professionals, and advocates from related fields to come together and discuss the importance of protecting and conserving native plants and their habitats and the pivotal role of plant species in establishing sustainable responses to global environmental crises. Photo Credit: Gulnara Niaz
CPC Board Chair Dr. Barbara Millen addresses attendees at CPC's Native Plant Summit hosted at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, MA, in October 2023. The summit served as a platform for esteemed experts, professionals, and advocates from related fields to come together and discuss the importance of protecting and conserving native plants and their habitats and the pivotal role of plant species in establishing sustainable responses to global environmental crises. Photo Credit: Gulnara Niaz
Native Plant Summit panelists (left to right): Wes Knapp of NatureServe, Dr. Lucinda McDade of California Botanic Garden, and Dr. William (Ned) Friedman of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University. Photo Credit: Gulnara Niaz
CPC's Native Plant Summit hosted at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, MA, in October 2023. The summit served as a platform for esteemed experts, professionals, and advocates from related fields to come together and discuss the importance of protecting and conserving native plants and their habitats and the pivotal role of plant species in establishing sustainable responses to global environmental crises. Photo Credit: Gulnara Niaz
Position Papers
CPC Position Paper on Threatened and Endangered Native Plants
Since 1984, the mission of the Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) has been to save the threatened and endangered native plants of North America by supporting evidence-based measures to prevent extinction. The landmark 1973 Endangered Species Act (ESA) has served to protect imperiled species, and, as advocates for native plants and biological diversity, we support the ESA (1) and champion the enforcement of federal, state and local environmental laws to protect native species and the ecosystems that provide the essential context for their survival. Many plants are at risk owing to habitat destruction, climate change, invasive non-native plants and loss of pollinators, among other challenges. Without human intervention, an estimated one million of Earth’s plant and animal species may face extinction in the next decades. To save rare and imperiled plants, CPC collaborates with a network of Conservation Partners–botanical gardens, arboreta, seed banks, herbaria and research organizations–and is a member of the Endangered Species Coalition. Looking beyond the borders of the U.S.A., the CPC endorses international efforts aimed at securing the fate of Earth’s imperiled species.
Each plant species represents a unique genetic and phenotypic solution to the problem of how to live on planet Earth. Each species occupies a unique nexus in the web of interactions among living organisms, and between them and their environments. As a result, the loss of a single species represents loss of irretrievable and precious information, while also endangering other species that are part of the interactive web of life. The CPC believes that human beings have the urgent responsibility to prevent this loss by taking action accordingly.
CPC therefore supports:
• Conserving imperiled plants in nature (in situ) and in gardens, seed banks and other repositories for living tissue (ex situ).
• Preserving existing critical habitat of imperiled species and unoccupied “refuge” areas where species can recover and persist.
• Safeguarding native species and ecosystems as a fundamental responsibility of humanity, but also because of the importance of biodiverse, wild populations as sources for medicine, food and other human needs, importantly including their ethnobotanical uses and significance to Native American and indigenous communities.
• Advancing the conservation of imperiled flora through science-based standards and protocols, research, cutting edge technology, information synthesis, data sharing and collaboration.
• Providing strict legal safeguards and consistent standards for threatened species awaiting listing, parallel to those for listed endangered plants.
• Increasing the number of trained botanists, conservation biologists and ecologists to conduct the exacting scientific research, monitoring and interventions necessary for native plant conservation and to provide science-based information to inform decision-making, responsible environmental policy-making by government entities at all levels, and conservation action.
• Augmenting viable, genetically diverse germplasm in seed banks and gene banks as a critical step in the restoration of self-sustaining wild populations and the survival and recovery of plants at risk.
• Supporting herbaria and their repositories of vouchers that provide expertly identified evidence to establish the historical ranges of species.
• Backing increased funding for restoration of native ecosystems and rare plants on public lands and for active management and sound strategies to combat invasive weeds.
• Working actively to protect pollinators with which plant species have co-evolved and upon which they depend for their successful reproduction.
• Empowering people with science-based knowledge to become advocates and activists for native plants threatened with extinction.
(1) According to the ESA, “‘Endangered’ means a species is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. ‘Threatened’ means a species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.” (https://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/ESA_basics.pdf)
Download the CPC Position Paper on Threatened and Endangered Plants.
CPC Position Paper on Climate Change
Background: As part of the advocacy efforts aligned with the mission to protect native and endangered plant species of the United States and its territories whose natural ranges extend into Canada and Mexico, The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is posting its Position Paper on Climate Change.
Climate Change and Threatened and Endangered Plants
The mission of CPC is to prevent native plant extinctions. The need is urgent to ensure the survival of imperiled plants facing dire consequences of climate change disruptions, exacerbated by habitat destruction, reproductive isolation, declines in pollinators, and ecological competition from invasive plants and animals. Human activities, including burning fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions, and the destruction of carbon sinks that absorb carbon dioxide are major culprits of climate change. The last seven years have been the warmest on record (1) and have been accompanied by rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and frequent massive wildfires. Climate change alters the timing of plant flowering, thereby affecting pollination and seed set, with consequent impact on the availability of fruits and seeds for birds and other creatures. The range of some species has shifted or contracted, and there are ongoing declines in plant populations. Climate change adversely impacts humans and wildlife, by which we mean native, undomesticated plants and animals.
CPC supports solutions to combat climate change:
- Replacing dependence on fossil fuels with renewable, alternative energies
- Fostering the resilience of natural systems by preserving and restoring existing carbon sinks, including intact forests, peatlands, native grasslands and other habitats that sequester carbon and provide clean air
- Maintaining wilderness and forested areas in national, state, and local parks, public lands, wildlife refuges, natural reserves and forests that act as carbon reservoirs
- Protecting coastal systems that capture “Blue Carbon” or carbon dioxide from the coastal ecosystems, and that provide aquatic habitat for invertebrates and other life
- Promoting living shorelines of natural materials and plants that store carbon
- Encouraging regenerative, no-till farming to sequester carbon and enrich the soil
- Using green buffers with native flora in transportation corridors and in public gardens
CPC supports research, education and advocacy:
- Designating strong legal protection for plants in the Endangered Species Act and State Wildlife Action Plans.
- Encouraging science -based research and conservation tools to map shifting ranges of imperiled species, monitor the effects of climate change, and develop strategies to prevent plant extinction
- Supporting seed banks and gene banks with viable, genetically diverse germplasm
- Expanding leadership initiatives throughout the USA for federal, state, and local funding for timely, science -based collection, conservation and seed banking of imperiled plants to protect biodiversity
- Adopting models to prioritize sensitive areas and ecosystems to make crucial, time-sensitive, science-based decisions
- Disseminating information about climate change and how it affects rare plants
- Promoting the importance of protecting rare plants and their pollinators by conveying the interrelationships of species and the realities of extinction
- Endorsing legislation that provides protections for native, endangered, and threatened plants
- Educating how individuals can be part of the solution
(1) https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/2020-tied-for-warmest-year-on-record-nasa-analysis-shows
*Approved by the Board of Trustees 10/22/2021.
Federal Legislation – Current
Proposed legislation would provide for funding to prevent extinction for the species of greatest conservation need, including fish, wildlife, key habitats, flora and plant communities. Financial and technical assistance would go to states, territories and Tribes. Besides restoration, the bill aims at catalyzing innovative methods for measurable recovery. Although the bill failed to make it through year-end funding in 2023, it now has additional bipartisan co-sponsors in Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).
CPC encourages you to ACT NOW by contacting your senators and representatives and urging them to support this bill.
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History of H.R. 2773/S. 2372 in the 117th Congress:
H.R. 2773 U.S. House of Representatives passed the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act (RAWA) in a 231-190 bipartisan vote on Tuesday, June 14, 2022. The bill amends the Pittman-Robertson Act to provide states, territories, and tribes with more than $1.3 billion annually to catalyze proactive, on-the-ground, collaborative efforts to restore essential habitat and implement key conservation strategies as described in each state’s Wildlife Action Plan.
This bill provides funding for (1) the conservation or restoration of wildlife and plant species of greatest conservation need; (2) the wildlife conservation strategies of states, territories, or the District of Columbia; and (3) wildlife conservation education and recreation projects.
It includes language to safeguard native plants and to combat invasive species. Together with partners including the Native Plant Conservation Campaign, Plant Conservation Alliance Non-Federal Cooperators Committee, Garden Club of America and Botanic Gardens Conservation International United States, this language was included and an amendment was added stating that funds can be used for the conservation and restoration of native pollinator species.
The Department of the Interior must use a portion of the funding for a grant program. The grants must be used for innovative recovery efforts for species of greatest conservation need, species listed as endangered or threatened species, or the habitats of such species.
S. 2372 In April 2021, the Senate’s version of the bill favorably advanced out of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works committee. Much behind the scenes work has been going on by Chairman Carper ( D-DE), Ranking Member Capito (R-WVA), Senator Blunt (R-MO), and Senator Heinrich (D-NM) to reach a compromise that protects the integrity of the bill without increasing the funding request to a non-negotiable level. The legislation moved to the Senate for consideration in Summer 2022, but failed to pass in December 2022.
If passed into law, this legislation will, for the first time in U.S. history, provide permanent, dedicated funding to state and tribal agencies to proactively conserve at-risk species, including native plants.
Please let your Senators know that the CPC supports “RAWA” and hope they will vote “yes” when it is presented next session. You may also call the Capitol switchboard in D.C. on (202) 224- 3121 and ask to be connected to your Senator’s office, where you’ll be able to speak to a member of their staff.
Read the full text of the bill here.
Giant sequoias (Sequoiadendron giganteum) grow naturally only on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California. Wildfires have hit groves of ancient trees, including those in Yosemite National Park in the 2022 Washburn Fire. Originally introduced in the House by Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the bill was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Agriculture, and then to the Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry. H.R. 2989 would facilitate procedures and interagency coordination in emergencies by creating of a Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition with input by local and state governments, representatives from the National Parks Service, Forest Service, and Tribal leaders. In this collaborative process of shared stewardship, decision makers would use the best available science to assess Giant Sequoia health and resiliency. Educational materials and programs would be available to inform the public about threats to the giant sequoias and actions needed to reduce risks from wildfires, insects and drought.
CPC encourages you to ACT NOW by contacting your senators and representatives and urging them to support this bill.
Introduced in the Senate in the 118th Congress by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)-This bill designates certain lands of the National Forest System, lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming “as wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, wildland recovery areas and biological connecting corridors, and for other purposes.” The bill also designates segments of specified rivers and creeks in these states as parts of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and specified areas as wildland recovery areas. Under the bill, the USDA is to develop wildland recovery plans for each recovery area. In lands of over 1,000 acres within the National Forest system in the Wild Rockies bioregion, the bill, after a study by independent scientists, would prohibit road construction and development that impairs the natural and roadless qualities of the land. First introduced as S1276 and H.R. 1755 in the 117thCongress.
CPC encourages you to ACT NOW by contacting your senators and representatives and urging them to support this bill.
Sponsored by Joe Neguse (D-CO) with 6 co-sponsors, H.R. 565 was referred to the House Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. The bill would require the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to establish a Community Resiliency & Restoration Fund with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in order to protect and conserve restoration and resiliency lands of the United States for present and future generations in the face of climate extremes. These are defined as fish, wildlife, and plant habitats as well as other significant natural areas that enhance biodiversity and contribute to resiliency in the face of threats exacerbated by climate change. They may comprise grasslands, chaparral, prairies, deserts, forests, wetlands or riparian corridors. The Fund is directed to ensure amounts are available to historically underserved communities.
ACT NOW by contacting your senators and representatives to encourage them to support this bill.
The bill was introduced in the Senate May 18, 2023 and sponsored by Senator Blumenthal (D-CT), with Cosponsors Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). It requires the Department of the Interior to provide financial assistance to conserve endangered butterflies in North America; plant species in Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands; and bony fish in desert ecosystems in the southwestern United States. Among other things, the bill establishes the North America Butterfly Conservation Fund, the Pacific Islands Plant Conservation Fund, the Freshwater Mussel Conservation Fund, and the Southwest Desert Fish Conservation Fund. In selecting projects for assistance, the Dept. of the Interior must prioritize projects that conserve threatened and endangered species. Referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Learn more about the extinction Prevention Act of 2023.
CPC encourages you to ACT NOW by contacting your senators and representatives and urging them to support this bill.
The Senate bill was introduced by Rep. Brian Schatz (D-H), with Co-Sponsor Mazie Hirono, D-HI), and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. The House version was introduced by Rep. Ed Case (D-HI) and referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries. Legislation would establish a competitive grant program to support the conservation, restoration and recovery of native plant and animal species in Hawaii through cooperative agreements, grants, micro grants, and other means. Grants would be awarded to eligible entities to carry out coordinated, science-based conservation and recovery of native species in the State, prevent the introduction and spread of invasives, address the ecological consequences of climate change and habitat loss on native species and increase the necessary scientific capacity required for planning, monitoring, management and research. To increase capacity and support, the public would be engaged through outreach, education, and community involvement.
Introduced in the House on March 14, 2023 by Brian J. Mast (R-FL) and by Marco Rubio in the Senate (R-FL) the legislation was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The legislation would authorize the Dept. of the Interior to make financial assistance available to those States with a comprehensive water quality control plan. The goal is to restore natural hydrological systems that have been deemed impaired by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. This would include wetlands, marshes, living shorelines and near-shore estuarine. Financial assistance would come from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, now permanently funded since 2020 through the Great American Outdoors Act. The Act provides $900 million a year from offshore oil and gas leases to safeguard our public lands and natural areas.
Introduced in the House on Oct. 18, 2023 by Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), the bill now has 130 Cosponsors and has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment. It would amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 2023 by clearly defining the Nation’s protected water resources subject to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and would restore a national minimum water quality standard of protection for the Nation’s water resources, including streams and wetlands. Learn more.
Sponsored by Earl Blumenauer (Rep.-D-OR) and Rep. James McGovern (D-MA) and introduced on June 22, 2023, the bill now has 33 Cosponsors. It was referred to the House Subcommittee on Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology. The bill addresses the plight of North American bumblebees, native bees and honey bees, as well as 70 pollinator species that are listed as threatened or endangered. Scientists have associated the problem with the use of systemic insecticides that are known as neonicotinoids (neonics). Neonics are used indoors and outdoors to control insects. A large amount of commodity crops, such as corn and soybeans, are grown with seeds coated with the systemic insecticide. The EPA “predicts that use may cause jeopardy to 11% of listed species and adversely modify 4% of critical habitats.”
The bill asks for urgent regulations for pollinator protection and increased coordination with the Center for Pollinator Conservation of the Fish & Wildlife Service. This national center is a venue where land managers, scientists, decision makers and others share best practices and approaches to benefit pollinator species.
This resolution will be co-sponsored by Senator Braun (R-IN) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI). A companion House Resolution will be introduced by Rep. Joe Neguse (D-CO). Learn more.
Federal Legislation – Past
Update, April 2023: The bill was introduced by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), and co-sponsored by Senator Michael F. Bennett (D-CO) and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). It was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. It would establish a voluntary, incentive-based Grassland Conservation Grant Program to help landowners, farmers, ranchers and Tribes restore, enhance, and conserve their native grasslands, thereby improving biodiversity and habitat connectivity. Native grasslands store carbon in their roots, underground in the soil, and so are important in carbon sequestration to mitigate climate change. The bill would create National and Regional Grassland Conservation Councils composed of federal, state, Tribal and conservation organizations as well as different farming, ranching and grazing groups. These Councils would approve funding for grassland conservation projects and offer recommendations for best practices. The bill also would establish research initiatives on native seed crops and regenerative grazing practices. The bill was endorsed in December, 2022 by The Wildlife Society.
Watching for news in the 118th Congress.
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Introduced in the 117th Congress:
A new bipartisan bill has been introduced to Congress – the North American Grasslands Conservation Act of 2022 – with the purpose to conserve and restore grasslands in North America.
Many grassland species in North America are in decline and their ecosystems threatened by fragmentation, invasive species, wildfire, degradation, and land conversion. If passed, the North American Grasslands Conservation Act of 2022 will address important conservation, management, and research issues related to grasslands.
Senate Resolution 570 designating April 2023 as National Native Plant Month originally was sponsored by Senators Portman (R-OH) and Hirono (D-HI) and agreed by Unanimous Consent. Upon Senator Portman’s retirement, Senator Braum (R-IN) agreed to sponsor a renewal of the Resolution by designating April 2023 as National Native Plant Month. The Center for Plant Conservation signed on as supporter of S. Res. 570.
This bill was introduced into Congress on March 3, 2021. In an effort to preserve biodiversity and and reap the numerous benefits local flora provide to wildlife, human health, and the environment, the bill would create a five-year pilot program in select National Parks to combat invasive species and test the success and the use of native plant material. This bill would also direct the Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management to review existing data and study the cost-effectiveness of using native plants within their respective units.
In July 2022, The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee advanced the Native Plant Species Pilot Program Act.
This was a bipartisan bill was introduced by Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8). An earlier version version was led by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) in February 2020.
The Native Plant Species Pilot Program Act was signed into law by President Biden on Dec. 29, 2022 as part of the 2023 government funding package (Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023).
A bill, introduced into the Senate on March 9, 2020 to establish, fund, and provide for the use of amounts in a National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund to address the maintenance backlog of the National Park Service, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Indian Education, and to provide permanent, dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and for other purposes. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and has 58 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Background
The “Great American Outdoors Act” combines two major conservation bills: S. 500, aimed at reducing the nearly $20 billion deferred maintenance backlog on public lands, and S. 1081, which would make funding permanent for the Land and Water Conservation Fund at its $900 million annual authorized level.
Under the bill, the National Park Service would receive the bulk of the aid — 70% of the funds — or roughly $1.3 billion per year beginning in fiscal 2021.
The Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service each would get 10%, or $190 million annually, while the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Education would each collect 5%, or about $95 million annually.
S.500 and S.1081 were important for plant conservation because they contained language that required native plants and natural infrastructure to be used in the projects funded by the bills. The new Great American Outdoors Act combines those two bills to further the protection of our natural lands and water.
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S.1081 Land and Water Conservation Fund Permanent Funding Act
This bill makes permanent, beginning in FY2020, funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).
The Land and Water Conservation Fund was established by Congress in 1964 to fulfill a bipartisan commitment to safeguard our natural areas, water resources and cultural heritage, and to provide recreation opportunities to all Americans. Using zero taxpayer dollars, the fund invests earnings from offshore oil and gas leasing to help strengthen communities, preserve our history and protect our national endowment of lands and waters. The LWCF Act authorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund at an annual level of $900 million, but Congress usually appropriates only a portion of this amount. While $900 million in revenue is deposited into a designated account in the Treasury each year, Congress has appropriated full funding to support conservation and recreation projects only once in the Fund’s 50-year history – diverting the remainder for other purposes.
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S.500 – Restore Our Parks Act and H.R.1225 – Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act
These bills (1) establish the National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund, and (2) requires 50% of all energy development revenues for FY2019-FY2023 to be deposited into such fund.
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H.R. 3195 is the companion bill to S. 1081 introduced in the House of Representatives, again with bipartisan support.
UPDATE
On Tuesday, August 4, 2020 the President signed into law the Great American Outdoors Act.
Thanks to all of you who called and wrote your Representatives to vote for this important conservation bill. This victory wouldn’t have happened without you!
This bill was introduced to Congress on March 17, 2021 to amend title 23, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Transportation to establish a program to provide grants to carry out activities to benefit pollinators on roadsides and highway rights-of-way, including the planting and seeding of native, locally-appropriate grasses and wildflowers, including milkweed, and for other purposes.
This bill was in Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure as of March 2021. Provisions of this bill were incorporated into other bills which were enacted, so there will not likely be further activity on this bill. This bill was incorporated into:
H.R. 3684: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act – enacted, signed by the President on November 15, 2021.
Background
The US House of Representatives introduced a bill, H.R.1572, commonly referred to as the “botany bill”, that among other things, “directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the National Park Service, and other appropriate entities to support a program of intramural and extramural botanical science research to support the land management responsibilities of the Department of the Interior.”
The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) supported this bill for the following reasons:
- It would increase the number of trained botanists, scientists, conservation biologists and ecologists to conduct the science-based research necessary for the conservation of vulnerable plants and their ecosystems.
- It advocates for science-based research that provides data to alert relevant agencies and the public with vital information to inform decision-making, responsible environmental government policy and conservation action.
- It supports engagement between the Department of the Interior with other agencies and groups, including organizations like CPC, to maximize conservation efforts and legislative advocacy efforts.