From the Editor

Among the numerous hats I currently wear, I serve as president of the Idaho Native Plant Society. This past week, I presided over the Idaho Rare Plant Conference, an event the Society sponsors every other year to review the status of Idaho’s 400+ species of rare and threatened plants. We routinely complete this activity to provide guidance to state and federal agencies responsible for monitoring and protecting these species.

I had a marvelous time at this conference, partly a result of the wonderful speaker panel incorporated into the meeting and partly due to the opportunity to rub shoulders with like-minded people. I find it very satisfying to work with researchers, educators, and interested citizens who feel urgency to protect the best aspects of a world wherein much of what we love is under constant threat.

To close the meeting, I shared a few lines of prose written by Edward P. McGinley, which he wrote and presented at last November’s Eighth Annual Western Native Plant Conference held in Olympia, Washington. Within that extensive piece, he wrote,

The secret is, there is no secret….

Coming to terms with this is a critical first step.

And a terrifying one at that.

As humans appear to be gearing up

To either wipe themselves out,

Or spend the rest of their existence

Lamenting and regretting what was lost.

We cannot let fear stop us,

Because, only we can fix it.

I think these words make a good case for the work to which most of us have dedicated our lives.