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News From MO: 2000 Center for Plant Conservation Since its arrival at the Garden in January 1991, the Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) has continued to build its program to conserve the rare plants native to the U.S. The core CPC program is the National Collection of Endangered Plants maintained in a nationwide network of 30 participating institutions. The National Collection now includes 570 rare U.S. taxa, making it the largest living rare plant conservation collection in the world. CPC also actively promotes and convenes Endangered Plant Task Force meetings in regions of the U.S. with high plant diversity and rarity (currently Hawaii, California, Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). These task forces identify and prioritize plant conservation problems within their respective regions, produce plant conservation action plans, and develop funding and program strategies. The CPC database includes information on over 8,000 U.S. taxa, of which approximately 4,220 are classified as being of some level of conservation concern by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Nature Conservancy, or the CPC. The CPC program is directed by Kathryn Kennedy, who joined the organization this year as President and Executive Director. She is assisted by Donna Key, Administrative Assistant. Mary Yurlina is the Manager of Conservation Programs, and Chana Martin is coordinator of membership and communications. Carol Annable is the Conservation Projects Coordinator at the CPC Hawaii program office at Lyon Arboretum, Hawaii. The CPC is governed by a national Board of Trustees, chaired by Eliot Paine (Mentor, Ohio), the former director of the Holden Arboretum. The Board now includes 27 members from 12 states and Great Britain. A national Science Advisory Council, chaired by Barbara Schaal of Washington University, oversees CPC's scientific activities. The CPC's website can be viewed at http://www.mobot.org/CPC/. Top | Table of Contents