California Native Plant Week
California Native Plant Week 2012 will be April 15 - April 22, 2012.
If you are interested in joining the CNPW 2012 Committee, email cficker cnps.org.
2011 Native Plant Week Acknowledgements
The first ever California Native Plant Week (CNPW) would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of Mike Ross, Barbara Wolf, Nancy Morin, Mark Naftzger, Diana Ruiz, the CNPW Committee and chapter members, and. In three months, thousands of volunteer hours have been spent planning events, collecting event information, building a website, designing pamphlets, and establishing a viable program for future years.
Building a program from the ground up has not been an easy task but CNPW 2011 will be the start of a successful and wonderful program for years to come. Mike Ross, CNPW Committee Chair, has dedicated himself to crafting a week that truly exemplifies the mission of California Native Plant Week: to raise awareness about the need to conserve California's rich native plant diversity for future generations and the great societal benefits of using California native plants in gardens and landscapes. His management over the program has successfully guided us to hosting over 100 events, with involvement from a majority of the chapters. He and Nancy Morin diligently worked to including all chapter events on the website – a process that not only took hundreds of hours to coordinate with individual chapters but also to collect and then upload onto the website. Among other tasks, Barbara Wolf designed and planned the media outreach tools that every chapter will be using. Without her creative input, there would be no exciting media to highlight CNPW's contribution to preserving native plants. Diana Ruiz did a tremendous job promoting CNPW in her workplace and region. She also produced an excellent publication and two bookmarks for her conservation district.
The contributions by these volunteers has transformed California Native Plant Week from text in a bill, to a wonderful program that will promote, educate, and conserve California's rich native flora for future generations.
California Native Plant Week
The California State Assembly and Senate have approved
Resolution ACR 173 (Evans) establishing California Native Plant Week, beginning April 17-23, 2011.
This measure proclaims the 3rd week of April, each year, as California Native Plant Week and
encourages community groups, schools, and citizens to undertake appropriate activities to promote
the conservation, restoration, and appreciation of California's native plants.
More than 100 events celebrating native plants are being held up and down the state during California Native Plant Week. Locate CNPWeek events in your area with the California Native Plant Week Events Calendar.
The resolution (ACR 173) was introduced by Assemblywoman Noreen Evans (D – Napa), was
sponsored by the California Native Plant Society, and garnered the support of horticulturalists,
conservation organizations, and nurseries throughout California.
ACR 173 recognizes the vital historical, artistic, and economic contributions California’s native plants
have made to our State, and points out that California native plant gardening and landscaping have
tremendous positive impacts to our watersheds, to habitat recovery, and to curbing catastrophic
wildfires. In particular, the resolution recognizes that home landscaping and gardening with native
plants can cut residential water use from 60 to 90% over conventional gardening.
Complete text of Assembly Concurrent Resolution 173
Download a printable copy of the resolution (PDF 2.8Mb)
California Native Plant, Lupinus albifrons.
Photo by Stacey Flowerdew
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Noreen Evans
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Blumenfield, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Carter, Coto, DeLa 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)
Relative to Native Plant Week
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.
Adopted by the California Assembly, August 2, 2010
Adopted by the California Senate, August 27, 2010
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Dedicated to the Preservation of California Native Flora