Re: conservation

Christopher Waldrop (WALDROP@library.vanderbilt.edu)
Fri, 11 Nov 1994 12:38:33 -0600 (CST)

> What absolutely infuriates me is when I encounter people collecting plants
> on protected property, as in national monuments, Nature Conservancy land,
> or National Parks. This is completely reprehensible behavior.

I agree completely on that one. As far as I know, Tennessee is not
home to any species of carnivorous plants, but there has been a lot
of collection of protected plants and animals in protected areas
around here. As a result those areas tend to suffer.
Although I think having endangered species in my own collection would
be the best way to assure their continued survival, I think there are
enough reputable ways to acquire them that adding to the rapid
diminishment of these plants seems like a gratuitous waste, the one
exception being saving plants in an area that is going to be
destroyed, but I would prefer to leave that to professional
authorities who have received documentable permission.
How do endangered species come up for sale, though? Although I
assume these plants were acquired legally, there must have been a
point at which they were taken from the wild.