S. flava Bulloch Co, GA (recently extirpated site)
Apr 2, 2015 13:59:17 GMT -5
Iwest, carniman, and 8 more like this
Post by meizzwang on Apr 2, 2015 13:59:17 GMT -5
I say with great optimism that many sites in the wild will likely live on, since if you think about it, they still exist today and have gone through great abuse. I also said in many other posts that I had a gut feeling that some of these sites will no longer be in the future.
In most cases, who really knows? My gut told me this site in Bulloch Co, GA would live on for our great, great, great, great grandchildren to see and enjoy, since it was located in a seemingly protected zone under a powerline. Afterall, how can you develop under a powerline, it's an easement on the parcel map that can't be developed, right?
Sadly, those easement laws that apply here in California have no merit in Georgia. Yup, somehow they built houses under a powerline, and to add insult to injury, this happened in 2012! Yes, even in very recent times, we are still losing habitat despite the fact that these once common plants that you could see for miles and miles are now incredibly scarce and threatened in the wild.
I do commend the organizations that came about and rescued these plants before the site was destroyed. This is one of the rare situations where digging up plants is justified (I think 95% of the time, it isn't justified). I've heard recent reports that the plants are thriving at Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Georgia Southern University, and I have a small population as well. However, you can't replace wild populations...we may have saved most of the Sarracenia flavas at this site, but every last other plant and animal species that was there is now gone forever. There also used to be S. minor and S. psittacina in the area, but I'm not sure if those still exist.
What's even more heart breaking is that I've now heard conflicting reports on where the black veined flava originated (previously, I heard reports that it came from the Kennedy tract, which is nearby). This powercut may in fact have been the spot where our coveted black veined flava originated.
The water table was already destroyed by bulldozing the forest, so even if they left all the plants there, they would have dried up and died long ago.
These pictures are from Georgia Wildlife Rescue. If you are the owner of these photos and would like to have them removed, please contact me: meizzwang@gmail.com
These photos were taken Aug. 2012. In the background, where you see bull dozers, there are now homes and a few shops. Prior to this photo being taken, the whole surrounding area used to be thick forest with native plants (I remember finding some native persimmons there):
In most cases, who really knows? My gut told me this site in Bulloch Co, GA would live on for our great, great, great, great grandchildren to see and enjoy, since it was located in a seemingly protected zone under a powerline. Afterall, how can you develop under a powerline, it's an easement on the parcel map that can't be developed, right?
Sadly, those easement laws that apply here in California have no merit in Georgia. Yup, somehow they built houses under a powerline, and to add insult to injury, this happened in 2012! Yes, even in very recent times, we are still losing habitat despite the fact that these once common plants that you could see for miles and miles are now incredibly scarce and threatened in the wild.
I do commend the organizations that came about and rescued these plants before the site was destroyed. This is one of the rare situations where digging up plants is justified (I think 95% of the time, it isn't justified). I've heard recent reports that the plants are thriving at Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Georgia Southern University, and I have a small population as well. However, you can't replace wild populations...we may have saved most of the Sarracenia flavas at this site, but every last other plant and animal species that was there is now gone forever. There also used to be S. minor and S. psittacina in the area, but I'm not sure if those still exist.
What's even more heart breaking is that I've now heard conflicting reports on where the black veined flava originated (previously, I heard reports that it came from the Kennedy tract, which is nearby). This powercut may in fact have been the spot where our coveted black veined flava originated.
The water table was already destroyed by bulldozing the forest, so even if they left all the plants there, they would have dried up and died long ago.
These pictures are from Georgia Wildlife Rescue. If you are the owner of these photos and would like to have them removed, please contact me: meizzwang@gmail.com
These photos were taken Aug. 2012. In the background, where you see bull dozers, there are now homes and a few shops. Prior to this photo being taken, the whole surrounding area used to be thick forest with native plants (I remember finding some native persimmons there):