Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 17:25:10 EDT From: MCATALANI@aol.com To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2303$foo@default> Subject: Re: Perdido Pitcher Plant Prairie & Plant Poaching
Hello Everybody!
Last week my girlfriend and I went to Gulf Shores, Alabama, for a vacation of
beach and CP hunting. We took a quick 20 minute drive to Perdido Key, Florida
to visit the pitcher plant prairie. I took quite a few pictures, and have
posted them at www.cpjungle.com/perdido.htm. We also went to one of my
favorite South Alabama bogs that contained S. alata & S. leucophylla. We
found massive evidence of very recent plant poaching in this bog. (200 plants
at least ) Also, the bog across the highway had seen ALL of the S. alata
plants removed. Another bog behind the Texaco station at I-10 and Moss Point,
Mississippi had also had ALL of its S. alata plants removed within the last
year, as they were there as of July 1999. I saw more evidence of recent
poaching in this trip than in my past 12 years of visiting the area COMBINED!
I am especially distressed since the number of plants taken lead me to
believe that these plants are being resold on the US market. NEITHER the
South Alabama nor the Moss Point locations appear to be under an immement
danger of habitat destruction. In fact, the South Alabama site has remained
unchanged for the past 12 years. The biggest immenent danger that the pitcher
plants in these bogs face are people who sport a shovel and lack any form of
self control. Just because a gas station is built next to a bog does not mean
you have any ethical right to remove plants from that bog. Instead, visit the
site frequently and regularly to check up on its health. Just because there
are a couple of chemical manufacturing plants a quarter of a mile from a 20
acre bog does not mean the bog is in IMMENANT DANGER! Just because a "for
sale" sign shows up on a bog does not mean the plants are in IMMENENT DANGER.
When you see the earth moving equipment show up at the site, THEN the plants
are in immenant danger. Otherwise, leave them be. The south alabama bog had a
"for sale" sign on it 12 years ago. The sign has long since been gone. The
bog has remained unchanged. Yet I'm sure that someone passing through used
the "immenant danger" mentality to justify yanking the plants out of
existance. (After all, there are a couple of big ugly chemical plants right
next to it!!) I'm certain that the once beautiful plants are now nicely
dying at the hands of a person who's as incompetant at cultivating these
plants as they are at performing any form of field studies. Dr. Donald
Schnell warned us about this 25 years ago. Back then, there were still many
stands of plants which seemed endless. Today, I have to search rather
diligently to find any pitcher plants at a location known as the pitcher
plant prairie. I am in the process of locating a 10-20 acre site in at least
two separate locations which either contain, or did contain pitcher plants. I
believe private owners hold the best key possible to protecting these plants.
But even after I purchase these bogs and get them in a pristine condition, I
am quite sure that someone with shovel in hand will begin digging up the
plants because they are obviously in "immenant danger." Sorry to go off
folks. Every time I take a trip down to the gulf, I get more and more
infuriated with what I see happening.
Michael Catalani
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