BEN # 62

[Adolf Ceska]

BBBBB    EEEEEE   NN   N          ISSN 1188-603X
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BBBBB    EEEEE    NN N N          BOTANICAL
BB   B   EE       NN  NN          ELECTRONIC
BBBBB    EEEEEE   NN   N          NEWS

No. 62                            August 21, 1993

Address: aceska at cue.bc.ca         Victoria, B.C.
----------------------------------------------------


CLAYOQUOT BLOCKADE NEWS UPDATE
From: Student Enviro-Link <env-link+ at andrew.cmu.edu>

August 20 1993 - The Friends of Clayoquot Sound

As  the  number  of  arrests  on  the  Clayoquot blockade climbs
towards 600, the NDP government has  quietly  promised  to  give
MacMillan  Bloedel  permission to begin blasting a road into the
Clayoquot Valley within a month. A  Forest  Ministry  memorandum
[the  existence  of  this  "leaked" memorandum was denied by the
government  -  AC]  states  that  the  new  forestry  guidelines
promised  by  the Harcourt regime in its unpopular decision will
be waived for a period of 12 months in order to expedite logging
in one of the last untouched valleys in Clayoquot Sound. Despite
post-election assurances  of  public  participation,  no  public
input  will be allowed during the first year of clearcut logging
in this vital valley.

"After all the expensive PR from our  corporate-led  government,
its  logging-as-usual  in  Clayoquot Sound," an angry Friends of
Clayoquot Sound director, Valerie Langer said today. "MacBlo has
flagged its road across 45  degree  slopes  along  an  important
salmon  spawning  stream  and  we're supposed to trust a company
with 25 convictions for damaging fisheries?"

Nuu-chah-nulth nation chiefs and  B.C.'s  biggest  environmental
organizations  have  re-affirmed  their  pledge  to keep the big
multinational logging companies out of  the  pristine  Clayoquot
Valley.  But the Forest Ministry has told MB to expect its road-
building permit by Sept. 14, 1993.

This morning saw 180 rain forest protectors  blockading  a  fog-
shrouded  Kennedy  River  bridge.  Eighteen people - including a
longshoreman and a disabled World War II vet - were arrested for
refusing to allow Interfor and MacMillan Bloedel logging  trucks
to  pass.  "This  is  where patriots belong," 73 year old Austin
Delany stated before being taken into police  custody.  "An  I'm
calling  on  patriots  and veterans particularly in B.C. to come
and stand on guard."

In related developments,  an  application  before  B.C.  Supreme
Court  to  quash  MacMillan  Bloedel's  anti-blockade injunction
enters its second day of  hearings.  Friends'  lawyers  hope  to
convince  the judge that MacMillan Bloedel should not be allowed
to use Crown, RCMP and court  resources  to  enforce  a  private
dispute.

Though  Clayoquot  fallers  are  set to begin a two week holiday
today, grapple-yarding,  road  building  and  other  rainforest-
unfriendly  activities  will continue at 20 locations throughout
Clayoquot Sound. "We will remain  on  the  road  until  Harcourt
reverses his unfortunate decision," Langer declared.

[For more information call Garth Lenz or Valerie Langer 604-725-
4218]


RE: HAYNES' LEASE FIRE [BEN # 60] - I
From: Robert Scheer 371-6400 <RSCHEER at galaxy.gov.bc.ca>

I  just  realized  I  goofed on the year of the previous fire at
Haynes ' Lease. It was in 1989,  four  years  ago  not  2  as  I
stated.

Please  pass  along  to  Jane  Bock that BC Parks has at no time
considered seeding the burn at Haines Lease with sterile or  any
other seeds, for exactly the reasons she stated.


RE: HAYNES' LEASE FIRE [BEN # 60] - II
From: Kelly McGrew <72075.1615 at CompuServe.COM>

The  idea  that Jane Bock had in BEN #61 was an interesting one:
to use native seeds to revegetate  the  burn  area.  Perhaps  an
option  that  could  be  explored is to work jointly between the
USA, Canada, and Mexico to form "Native Seed Banks" by floristic
area. There are two similar vegetative areas to that of the fire
area and both are in the USA. If some seeds were gathered  there
as  well  as  from  the  areas  nearby in BC which have the same
general floristic types, perhaps that would aid in the regenera-
tion of the area.

Taking the idea a step further,  perhaps  various  native  plant
societies  can  start  to  work together to form seed banks of a
regional or floristic-zone type. For example, the Artemisia  and
Purshia  seeds from southern BC and northern Washington could go
into one regional bank, while the same species  seeds  from  the
Lower  Columbia  Basin  would go into another bank, perhaps with
seeds from North Eastern Oregon. It may take a decade to  define
the floristic zones, put the logistics together and to determine
the  viability  period  for  the seeds, but once those steps are
accomplished a rotating schedule could be set up to insure  that
there are always viable seeds of the general stocks desired.

As  an  example,  on  a  recent trip to my high school home town
(Quincy,  Wash.)  I  collected  some  seeds   from   Pediocactus
simpsonii  var robustior Coult. While there are only a few seeds
(perhaps a couple of dozen) that I was  going  to  send  to  the
herbarium  at  the  Univ.  of Washington (Doug Eqing, Greenhouse
Manager) I would be happy to send them to you if they will  help
to revegetate the area.
[Pediocactus  simpsonii  does  not extend to British Columbia. -
AC]

NIGHT POLLINATION OF FIREWEED ?
From: "Robert A. Raguso" <Robert.A.Raguso at UM.CC.UMICH.EDU>
      reposted from POLPAL-L DISCUSSION LIST <POLPAL-
      L at UOGUELPH.BITNET>

I am studying floral  scent  and  hawkmoth  pollination  in  the
Onagraceae.  I  just  came  across  an  anecdote in one of Bernd
Heinrich's books about sphingid moths visiting Epilobium  angus-
tifolium  at  night... Does anyone have any further observations
on this or know of any  papers  that  discuss  moth  visits  and
pollination in fireweed?


EDITORIAL NOTE
From: Adolf Ceska <aceska at cue.bc.ca>

My mother-in-law died after a short illness. My wife Oluna and I
will  leave  for Prague tomorrow. We will stay in Czech Republic
till September 20. I want to  look  at  some  critical  vascular
plant  species  with  circumpolar  distribution  and  trace  out
specimens collected  by  my  countryman  Tadeas  Haenke  in  the
Pacific  Northwest  in  1791.  I would also like to collect more
material on spinach and civilization, and to study beginnings of
automation in medieval Prague. (Robot GOLEM was built in  Prague
by  rabbi  Judah Loew b. Bezalel in 16th century, but it failed,
mostly due to the software problems.)

Na shledanou in September.