Bill Text: CA ACR173 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered


Bill Title: Native Plant Week.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 42-7)

Status: (Passed) 2010-09-14 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 156, Statutes of 2010. [ACR173 Detail]

Download: California-2009-ACR173-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: ACR 173	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	RESOLUTION CHAPTER  156
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE  SEPTEMBER 14, 2010
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR  SEPTEMBER 14, 2010
	ADOPTED IN SENATE  AUGUST 27, 2010
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 2, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 2, 2010
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  JUNE 22, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Evans
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass,
Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield,
Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Coto, De La
Torre, De Leon, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hill, Huffman, Jones, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana,
Skinner, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, and Yamada)

                        JUNE 3, 2010

   Relative to Native Plant Week.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 173, Evans. Native Plant Week.
   This measure would proclaim the 3rd week of April, each year, as
California Native Plant Week and would encourage community groups,
schools, and citizens to undertake appropriate activities to promote
the conservation, restoration, and appreciation of California's
native plants.




   WHEREAS, California's native plants provide unparalleled and
unique iconic, economic, artistic, historical, and environmental
values to the state; and
   WHEREAS, California's over 6,000 native plant species, subspecies,
and varieties, of which over 2,150 exist only in California, make
California home to more diverse plant life than all other states
combined; and
   WHEREAS, California's native plants include some of the oldest,
tallest, and most massive living things on Earth; and
    WHEREAS, The Department of Fish and Game recognizes nearly
one-quarter of California's native plants as "special status plants"
that warrant additional protections; and
   WHEREAS, California currently contends with over 1,000 nonnative
plants, some of which compete with native plant species, degrade
soil, facilitate erosion and catastrophic wildfire, and alter the
state's natural landscapes; and
   WHEREAS, Many native California plants have played a vital role in
the history of our state and our nation, compelling Congress, the
Legislature, and many communities to protect the beauty, power, and
grandeur of our wild places; and
   WHEREAS, California's first Indian nations lived and thrived by
their knowledge of native California plants, which provided them with
food, clothing, shelter, dyes, tools, medicines, and fuel for
centuries; and
   WHEREAS, California's citizens have consistently supported efforts
to protect our wild landscapes, including numerous areas within the
Coast Redwoods, the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, and the Mojave
Desert, spurring a conservation and environmental awareness that
helps define California today; and
   WHEREAS, California's native plants have played a vital role in
inspiring the creation and management of our National Park Service,
including President Lincoln's 1864 signing of the Yosemite and
Mariposa Big Tree Grove Grant to California, designating a park "to
be held for public use, resort, and recreation ... inalienable for
all time," and the adoption of the Sequoia cone as an official
insignia of the National Park Service; and
   WHEREAS, In 1899, 1903, and 1904, members of the 9th Cavalry and
24th Infantry Buffalo Soldier regiments were dispatched to Sequoia
and Yosemite national parks, where they protected giant sequoias from
illegal logging, built trails and fences to enhance visitors'
experiences among the giant trees while protecting park resources,
and developed the first museum in a national park, a California
native plant arboretum in Yosemite Valley; and
   WHEREAS, An interest in protecting California's native plants has
played a vital role in the creation of many California state and
regional parks, including California's oldest state park, Big Basin,
created in 1902 to protect old growth Coast Redwood forests; and
   WHEREAS, The impact of California's landscape has influenced
literary and artistic works, including the works of Mark Twain, John
Steinbeck, Ansel Adams, and many other internationally known figures,
furthering California's legacy; and
   WHEREAS, California's native plants have provided and continue to
provide foods, medicines, and other products, from the origins of
California's strawberry industry to Taxol for cancer treatment; and
   WHEREAS, California native plant horticulture is a thriving,
vital, and growing industry employing thousands of Californians, and
the benefits to water conservation and natural area restoration help
provide economic stability within the state; and
   WHEREAS, California's native plants provide essential watershed
protections by helping to recharge natural aquifers, filtering water
flowing through mountains, hills, and valleys, lessening erosion and
flooding, and enabling efforts to beautify and renew our state; and
   WHEREAS, Gardens and landscapes comprised of California native
plants, being perfectly suited to California's climate and soil,
require far fewer fertilizers, soil amendments, or pesticides, and
use 60 to 90 percent less water than conventional landscapes,
exemplified by a City of Santa Monica experiment, in which a native
plant garden using appropriate watering methods was shown to use
nearly 220,000 fewer gallons of water than a similarly sized
conventional garden, a 77 percent decrease in water use; and
   WHEREAS, Restoring California native plants provides natural links
to wild land areas, while introducing people to their beauty and
instilling a greater understanding and appreciation for California's
natural heritage; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the Legislature recognizes the essential
value and importance of California native plants to our history,
economy, landscape, and environment; and be it further
   Resolved, That the California Legislature encourages community
groups, schools, and citizens to undertake appropriate activities to
promote native plant conservation and restoration, and to inform
their neighbors and communities of the value of native plants in
nature and in horticultural settings; and be it further
   Resolved, That the California Legislature hereby declares the
third week of April, each year, as California Native Plant Week; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
                               
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