The Scoop | EXPO
You Wouldn’t Plant Dandelions, Would You? By Tim Power, MNLA Regulatory Consultant innesota’s Noxious Weed Advisory Committee (NWAC) is in the midst of a risk assessment on Japanese barberry, the first evaluation among several that are likely to be conducted in the next few years involving horticultural plants that have shown up on invasive plants lists. MNLA is an active participant in NWAC, Tim Power because our industry has a lot at stake as NWAC makes its recommendations to Minnesota’s Commissioner of Agriculture regarding “list/do not list” decisions to the state’s noxious weed lists. The 2013 Northern Green Expo Public Policy Forum brings together two experts in the invasive plants/noxious weeds realm who will share their insights and common ground and explore their differences on how our industry and our state should deal with horticultural plants that are deemed invasive. The Public Policy Forum will begin at 3:40 PM on Wednesday, January 9th.
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This session’s whimsical title was suggested by our speaker Bonnie HarperLore, retired manager of the national roadside vegetation management program for the Federal Highway Administration. She spent much of her career applying science and technology to roadside problems, especially weeds. Harper-Lore currently
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www.MNLA.biz | DECEMBEr 2012
Bonnie Harper-Lore
serves on the Invasive Species Advisory Committee to the National Invasive Species Council. She holds a M.S. degree focused on restoration and management of native plant communities and she taught Ecological Principles of Design at the University of Minnesota for nine years. She worked for ten years in Minnesota’s landscape industry, during which time she served on the Minnesota Nurserymens’ Association’s Research Committee. Before its regulation as a noxious weed, she was a vocal advocate for the Green Industry to stop planting purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria). Dr. Laura Jull is associate professor and extension specialist for woody ornamental plants in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She holds a PhD in horticulture from North Carolina State University. Her expertise includes woody plant selection and evaluation of plants for urban tolerance, Laura Jull invasiveness potential of woody plants, dwarf and unusual conifers for the landscape, and environmental stress physiology. Also an industry insider, she worked in horticulture during her high school and college years, including positions in landscape installation and maintenance, plant propagation, woody plant ID, interior plant maintenance and retail sales of ornamental plants. Jull’s extension responsibilities at UW-Madison include serving Wisconsin’s green industry and she serves on Wisconsin’s equivalent of our Noxious Weed Advisory Committee. q