Issues
In following with our purpose to conserve NC's native plants and their habitats, the NCNPS has written letters stating our position on certain issues. You are encouraged to individually contact your State or Federal representatives. You are welcome to use the Society's draft letters as a starting point for your own correspondence.
- Jump to:
- Golden Sedge Habitat
- Endangered Species Day Recognition
- Chimney Rock Park Sale
- Land for Tomorrow
- Sale of National Forest Land
- North Shore Road Construction in Swain County
- Contact your State or Federal Officials
Golden Sedge Habitat
Recently we were contacted by Dr. Emily Roberson, the director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Native Plant Conservation Campaign, asking our supporting in filing suit against the Federal Wildlife Service to seek protection under the federal Endangered Species Act for Golden Sedge's critical habitat here in North Carolina.
After consulting with a number of experts on the subject, we decided to not support this action. Instead, we are signatories to the following email written by Dr. Alan Weakley back to Dr. Roberson:
Dear Emily,
Dr. Peter White forwarded this request on to some of us who have been involved in the multi-agency inventory and conservation effort to protect the very important biodiversity resources in the Maple Hill, NC area, where Carex lutea and other species are endemic.
We feel that formal, legal designation of critical habitat would have no benefit for the conservation of this species, and would instead be detrimental to the conservation prospects for this species. Some of the reasons for this considered opinion include:
Designation of critical habitat can have benefits in some cases, especially with animals and especially when the bulk of occurrence is on public (especially federal) land. That is not the situation in this case.
The unprotected populations are under fragmented ownership by private landholders who own a few acres each, in a semi-suburban (in a small town way) situation, in a reconstruction era town (Maple Hill) which is primarily African-American, with some (warranted) suspicion of the good intentions of the federal government and of outsiders.
Effective conservation in cases like this requires working with a local community, rather than applying legal solutions likely to alienate the human community whose cooperation is needed. This particular effort could very well be seen as an attack on the Maple Hill African-American community.
Much of what the lawsuit would seek has already been achieved. In this case, both the North Carolina Dept. of Parks and Recreation and the North Carolina Chapter of The Nature Conservancy are actively acquiring critical habitat for Carex lutea, and in our opinion a lawsuit would decrease, not increase, the opportunities for these conservation actors to achieve their goals in this area.
In the last few years, multiple agencies in North Carolina have worked together to protect the majority of populations of Carex lutea, and supporting funding for the purchase of remaining private lands and management of public lands would do far more for protecting this species than any litigation.
These conservation actions have come about because of the hard work and partnerships forged among individuals from the following agencies, working together: The Nature Conservancy, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, North Carolina Division of parks and Recreation, and Progress Energy, with inventory support from US Fish and Wildlife Service, NC Natural Heritage Program, NC Plant Conservation Program, and NC Botanical Garden, funding from NC Natural Heritage Trust Fund, and cooperation from the private landowners who agreed to sell their land for conservation.
- We appreciate the frustration with the current gridlock in the Fish and Wildlife Service involving the endangered species processes, but efforts to punish the agency for its "issues" are likely to be counter-productive to actual conservation, in this case and in many others.
Unless you can provide compelling reasons why those who best know the species and its conservation situation in Pender and Onslow counties, NC are wrong about the opinions expressed above, we must not only decline to provide assistance in your litigation, but state our intention to actively oppose your efforts, should you move forward with this.
We additionally hope that any parallel efforts to force legal designation of critical habitat for other listed species in North Carolina will be carefully considered, and vetted with active conservation professionals in the area.
Alan Weakley, Ph.D.
Curator, University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden
Adjunct Assistant Professor, UNC-Chapel Hill
CB 3280, Chapel Hill NC 27517
919.962.0578The following people and organizations have requested to be signatories to this letter as well:
The North Carolina Native Plant Society
Hervey McIver, The Nature Conservancy, North Carolina Chapter (actively negotiating for protection of remaining unprotected Carex lutea populations)
Richard LeBlond, Herbarium Associate, UNC Herbarium (foremost expert on the species and its habitat)
Bruce Sorrie, Herbarium Associate, UNC Herbarium
In addition we sent a follow on letter (DOC 120 KB) to Dr. Roberson.
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Endangered Species Day Recognition
The NCNPS has given our endorsement to the Endangered Species Coalition in urging the US Senate to recognize "Endangered Species Day".
To learn more, see the Coalition news release* (PDF 35 KB) and the letter* (PDF 48 KB) sent by the Coalition.
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Chimney Rock Park Sale
You may have heard that this wonderful piece of property is to be sold by the owners. We have urged state officials to purchase Chimney Rock Park (DOC 267 KB). To find out more about it, we suggest you visit:
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Land for Tomorrow
We supported the efforts of Land for Tomorrow, with this resolution* (PDF 30 KB).
Here's a status report on Land for Tomorrow, the partnership asking the NC General Assembly for $1 billion over five years to protect rivers, farms and forests, parks and historic places.
They asked the NC Legislature to provide funding through general obligation bonds. Thanks to hundreds of volunteers, who let their legislators know how important conservation is to the future of the state, 75 of the 120 House members, and 22 of the 50 Senators co-sponsored the bills. The sponsors were incredibly diverse: Republicans and Democrats; rural and urban; mountain, coastal and Piedmont; African American and Caucasian.
For several weeks, it seemed very likely that the bills would pass, and a referendum would be placed on the ballot in November. Unfortunately, Governor Easley then came out strongly against additional debt, and the Senate leadership became unwilling to act. When Speaker Black realized that the House would not have support from either the Senate or the Governor, he decided not to bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
So now they're working to build even stronger support next year. The first step was to encourage the Legislature to establish a study commission of legislators and Governor appointees to investigate financing options and recommend how to meet the funding need. The bill passed overwhelmingly in both the House and the Senate. The commission's final report is due February 1, 2007, in time for legislation to be introduced next session.
In the past, similar commissions have broken impasses on how to meet other critical funding needs, and we hope that this one will be as successful. A number of key legislators and leading citizens have already expressed interest in serving on the commission, and Land for Tomorrow will do all it can to support the work of the commission.
This fall and winter, Land for Tomorrow will also continue our work around the state: building public awareness about why conservation is so critical to the state's economy and quality of life and involving more citizens in our network of volunteers.
Every day, new stories surface about rivers, farms, forests and historic places that will be lost if additional funding is not available soon. Although the proposal did not get on the ballot this year, they will continue to work for more funding next year because the future of North Carolina depends on it.
The bottom line: the work is not over.
You can sign up for Land for Tomorrow updates on their website.
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Sale of National Forest Land
We opposed the sale of National Forest land by sending this letter of opposition* (PDF 96 KB).
To find out more, Google for "sale of national forest land".
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North Shore Road Construction in Swain County
We opposed the construction of the North Shore Road in Swain County by sending this letter of opposition* (PDF 359 KB).
You can submit your comments to:
North Shore Road Project
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
PO Box 30185
Raleigh, NC 27622
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Contact your State or Federal Officials
You are encouraged to individually contact official representatives about these important issues. You are welcome to use the Society's draft letters as a starting point for your own correspondence.
NC State Officials
Federal Officials
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