[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Index by Month]

Re: [AGA Member] Pellia



I put large trimmings in the composter, but you have a good point. Some people have been known to hose out tanks in the driveway. The water runs into the storm sewer which goes directly into local watersheds. This is a huge problem in a bay in California where a Mediterranean plant was introduced. It has no problem at all consuming all available space in the bay, and a small piece broken off could drift along the coast coating other bays with it's lovely but useless green carpet. Can't remember the name of the plant but a big aquarium-I mean the kind that is public-was presumed guilty for introducing it into the Mediterranean by dumping their wastewater directly out without filters. But the California introduction was done by a guy in the driveway with a hose and a sunny saturday of chores. I think our water here dumps directly into puget sound. The city does worse, they accidently connected a toilet sewer line to the storm sewer and they don't have the money to fix it. It's been dumping raw sewage into Budd Bay at least since 2001, resulting in quite the odor.
I have noted that since I used the waste water from water changes to water my orchids I have gotten about half the orchids to bloom. That almost never happened before. I think they like the leftover flourish and fish waste. Once a month I flush with regular water to remove salts but haven't had any problems yet with this plan, though I have been told that it's a bad idea for vague reasons nobody really can think of...
Kate


Dennis Sheridan wrote:

From: "Kate Breimayer" <kate@munat.com>



Does that only apply to national parks or are state parks included? I am
unsure on all this stuff, was going to get some driftwood one day this
week.... If the Pellia is located in this area I should look for it



It might be best to contact your local Fish & Wildlife office. (Both Federal and State F&W.) They will send you a list of currently endangered/threatened species and areas that you should avoid.

Collection of anything on any publicly-accessed federal land - be it park,
forest, monument, whatever - is illegal. (Usually true for State-owned
public land as well.) However most rangers/offices can put you in touch with
local groups who may have permits/permissions for the things you're looking
for, depending on sensitivity of the area or specie.  I've found the Fish &
Wildlife people to be the most knowledgeable about what's going on and who
is doing what (from a regional viewpoint).

If you are in Washington state your best bet in the Washington State
Department of Ecology and the office of the Aquatic Plants Technical
Assistance Program.
(http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/plants/native/)

or the Washington Native Plant Society - http://www.wnps.org/
         Oregon Native Plant Society -      http://www.npsoregon.org

Much of their information will apply throughout the NW since this is all
part of the same temperate rainforest. In Oregon your best bet are the large
number of environmental organizations that conduct regular field trips, some
of which focus exclusively on aquatic plants. These are all open to anyone
interested.  Strange, I'm not aware of any Washington state-based orgs that
do similar fieldtrips..

I haven't had time to chase down anything specific since this thread
started, but two things did occur to me. I may be thinking of another
xxxwort instead of liverwort as submerged specimens available in the region.
If I remember correctly, the Endangered Species website only lists less than
half a dozen threatened/endangered liverworts, all of those being located in
the SE U.S.  But now that I think of it I don't remember seeing a list of
liverworts in the NW.

And, of course, I feel obligated to bring up the matter of problems arising
from wastewater disposal. It is fairly easy to accidently introduce a specie
into an area just by dumping out the water changes. A  spore/seed, root,
etc... there are real problems that can occur. I use my tank wastewater to
water our terrestrials as much as possible. Whatever plant cuttings I can't
give away/trade I mulch for our terrestrials. I strain the water if I have
an excess I need to dump into the sewage system, then rinse the sieve in the
water for our herb garden. I do all I can to make sure no part of anything
growing in my tanks leaves the premises. Some folks I know just wrap their
green waste in newspaper and put this in their trash (in paper bags, of
course <g>).  This seems a safe approach as well.

d

------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, please send mail to majordomo@thekrib.com
with "Unsubscribe aga-member" in the body of the message.  Archives of
this list can be found at http://lists.thekrib.com/aga-member/




------------------ To unsubscribe from this list, please send mail to majordomo@thekrib.com with "Unsubscribe aga-member" in the body of the message. Archives of this list can be found at http://lists.thekrib.com/aga-member/