Potential "feral" holly 2023 listing up for public comment
Hi everyone,
Hope you've been able to avoid the smoke somehow these last few weeks and especially days. The Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board is hosting a public hearing to gather comments/data on escaped or "feral" holly and the broader the comments, the more the representative the decision will be.
I'm on the state noxious weed committee and we've been able to recommend a Class C listing for (feral) Ilex aquifolium for WA for next year. The language including the new legally defined term "feral" around the listing comes as a compromise to those who feel that the legal term "noxious weed" will stigmatize holly for mostly out of state buyers. Fortunately the Economic Impact Statement for the listing suggests that economic impact for growers will be minimal if any, and won't impact shipping. If any of you have interest in participating in the process with your position/thoughts on the listing via written comments or public testimony (or just attend the meeting) on 11/2/2022 @ 1pm... the details are here:
https://www.nwcb.wa.gov/whats-new
Let me know if you have questions! Your experiences with holly, collected data on costs, and takes on its impacts in WA would be valuable input for the board! If you know of others that would want to engage feel free to send them my way as well! Thanks for keeping the observations coming and following this project!
Comments
I'm adding Ilex aquifolium here even though the numbers are daunting! I was mostly keeping it separate in this project for distribution data in the case a listing proposal came up (it did).
Just to follow up (for those who don't know). The holly listing proposal motion was forwarded and seconded at the board meeting, but did not have the majority of the votes (3-3 stalemate). So it did not pass this time. It will certainly be proposed again in the future but will only be considered when *new scientific data becomes available (according to WA noxious weed law). Here is the link to the final vote and discussion:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OpCz1MkDDHDh5ui2c99QEZlqrmLTPsAy/view?usp=share_link
Happy to answer any questions here or at terler@kingcounty.gov. Have a great winter everyone!
Great article on the holly proposal and its failure to pass:
https://www.wnps.org/content//documents/editorial-comm/douglasia/Douglasia_2022_46_03_winter_Web.pdf
Page 11- Happy New Year!
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