By Cathryn Pugh, Penn State University and Michele Bakacs, Rutgers University
One of the best things about the ANREP conference is how it brings practitioners together to discuss mutual goals and gives them the opportunity to kick off national initiatives. The National Extension Native Plant Initiative is one such effort born out of the spring conference.
Photo description: An orchard of American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) in flower. Photo credit: Cathryn Pugh, Penn State Extension
Interest in using native plants as part of sustainable landscapes is on the rise across the country. In recent years, industry surveys have indicated an increase in consumer interest in native plants in part due to a desire to help the environment by promoting pollinator friendly habitat, implementing climate solutions, or consuming less water (ASLA, 2018; ASLA, 2021; NGA, 2023). A native plant is one that is a part of the balance of nature that has evolved over thousands of years in a particular region or ecosystem. Extension professionals need resources to help educate landscapers, the nursery industry, and the public about integrating native plants into their landscapes. Many consumers and industry professionals are not familiar with local flora and native plant ecology and how that translates to bloom times and right plant, right place concepts. These concepts are critical for creating successful native plant gardens and habitats.
Initiative Goals
The National Extension Native Plant Initiative (NENPI) is still in its infancy, but our founding members aspire to provide a space for extension professionals to connect, share existing resources, and identify new areas of development around native plants in the United States. In our early (preliminary) stages of formalizing this group, we are looking to identify national challenges and barriers to native plant adoption. Three fundamental areas that have been discussed so far include a need for more educational materials, support for more native plant research, and overcoming barriers to access native plants. Our audience is the extension professional working with native plant stakeholders which include industries such as nurseries, landscapers, and farmers; land groups such as parks and recreation organizations, municipalities, and home-owner associations; and natural resource professionals.
As this group grows and continues to define our organization development, we aspire to the following broad goals:
Create educational materials to define and standardize botanical terms used by extension professionals
Create a repository of existing native plant factsheets
Provide professional development opportunities for extension educators
Increase access to native plants and native plant education
Join the National Extension Native Plant Initiative!
We are still crafting our proposal to be officially recognized as an ANREP Initiative. If you or someone you know would be interested in joining this effort, please reach out to Cathryn Pugh, Penn State Extension Forestry Educator at cathrynpugh@psu.edu or Michele Bakacs, Rutgers Cooperative Extension Associate Professor/ County Agent at mbakacs@rutgers.edu. All are welcome- ANREP members or anyone in a JCEP association. Our next meeting will be Tuesday, September 17th, 3:00 – 4:00 PM EST.
