Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 30, 1994 TAG: 9401300008
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Under the proposed $32 billion 1994-96 state budget, the Endangered Plant and Insect Species Program would lose its state funds, about $73,000. The program, which operates under the umbrella of the state Agriculture and Consumer Services Department, identifies plants and insects at risk of extinction in Virginia and works to promote their recovery.
"There is little protection effort out there now for rare and endangered plant and insect species," said Garrie Rouse, a Richmond botanist who has done research for the program. "Eliminating its funding would take the feet out from under what is already a small and fledgling program."
John Tate, the program's coordinator, said plants and insects are not as appealing as endangered birds and mammals.
"From an ecological perspective, an insect or plant can be just as important as a grizzly bear or a whooping crane," said David Wilcove, a senior ecologist with the Environmental Defense Fund.
The move to cut the program's money apparently "is a reflection of austere budget times," said John Johnson of the Virginia Farm Bureau. Johnson characterized the program as "well-run and well-administered."
If a plant or insect is listed under the state program as threatened or endangered, a person cannot kill or collect the species on another's property without a permit. The law, however, allows killing or collecting on one's own property.
The program is separate from another state program to protect rare animals and fish, which is run by the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.
Tate, the program coordinator, said plants should be saved because they are important to natural communities and because they may provide as-yet unknown products.
About 40 percent of the drugs sold in America contain chemicals derived from wild species, mostly plants, Tate said.
Under the Virginia program, 15 plants are listed as endangered or threatened. No insects are listed.
The plant-and-insect program, established in 1979, also regulates the collection and sales of ginseng, listed as threatened in Virginia. More than $3 million in ginseng is exported from Virginia each year.
In addition to state money, the program gets about $25,000 a year in federal funding for research.
The program could be shifted, without its budget, to another state agency such as Game and Inland Fisheries, state officials said. But Tate and others said that could make the program less effective.
Karen Terwilliger, who manages the game department's endangered-species program, said the plant-and-insect program should stay in the Agriculture Department.
"They have been doing a lot with a little bit of money," she said.
by CNB