Re: Are ALL native Wa. water plants illegal to have in aquar
Hi guys, I've been browsing through here for a while, but since this is something close to my interests, I thought I would chime in...
First, the Washington Native Plant Society page linked to above is an excellent guide to ethically collecting plants (native or not), but make no mistake, this is a GUIDE, not a legally binding document. It is NOT illegal to collect most native plants in this state, plants don't have the same protection as animals (including fish, but I don't think invertebrates have the same protections, not sure on that.) The ONLY plants that are protected in Washington are those on the threatened and endangered species list, follow the links in the WNPS page or search for Rare Care to find the up to date list. There are a couple of aquatic plants on that list, but the chances of you coming across any of those plants is pretty slim. They are that rare.
However, WHERE you collect makes a huge difference. You can collect anything on private land, so long as you have permission of the property owner. You cannot transport invasive species on the quarentine list, however, so keep that in mind, and do your best to look closely at Elodia species and other floating weeds to see if you have a native or not. My experience is that 99% of what you see will be the weedy species, but Elodia canadensis is still fairly common in many waterways, and you may be able to find a few stems of it along with the usual weedy ones. Basically look for the one delicate stem among the hundreds of more aggressive looking, thicker stems, and check the leaves to be sure you have the right species. All you need to supply a pond is one or two stems, and you can create a nice pond with it.
You can NOT collect in any state or federal park without a permit, and in the latter case unless you are doing some serious research and have a gov't contract to do it, that's not likely to happen. Last I checked, you can get a permit to collect in State Parks, through the State Department of Fish and Wildlife I believe. Contact them for details. Usually you can get permission if there is some kind of work being done in a park (clearcutting, road building, dredging, etc...) and the permit is specific to that location. I haven't heard of a permit for collecting aquatic plants, but I don't see any reason they wouldn't allow it if there was a site that generated plants that would be collectable. Local (city, county, etc) parks each have their own regs for this kind of stuff, so either take your chances and be discreet about it, or check with local parks departments on what the regs are. There may not even be any.
In the case of aquatic plants, in the past (I haven't done it in years, but I did try it once and got some starts of a few natives including Elodia canadensis and Ludwigia), if you can find out when the parks departments are dredging a local pond or lake, you can ask about going through the pile of plants they dredge up. Depending on the crew, they are often more amused than anything and will let you poke around so long as you don't get in the crew's way and are willing to let it go once they are done working and need to clean up. This is a great way to get tubers of the native spatter dock/ yellow pond lotus (Nuphar polysepalum) as they often specifically dredge to remove the roots as well as the leaves. These guys can have HUGE root systems, especially when they are growing deeper.
Hanging around a boat launch and going through the piles of weeds attached to props may occasionally score you a stem or two of native Elodia and such. Rare, but it can happen. These plants are trashed anyway, so if you can grab something you want, all the better. Be aware, most of the plants caught in boat props are the weedy ones you are specifically NOT supposed to transport, this is exactly why the laws are in place to begin with, and this is where the parks folks are most likely to watch, so be prepared to justify you identification of the plants, preferably with a clear guide to the different species to anyone who questions it.
Collecting plants can be pretty rewarding, you can find plants no one else is growing. There are some native and non-weedy non-natives out there that would make good cool water aquarium species. Utricularia anyone? I had a really cool one with big bladders, but it never flowered so I wasn't able to identify it beyond genus. We have also a number of native plants that will do well in shaded ponds too, something the pond specialists tend to say isn't possible, lol.
Do be mindful of where you collect though, and if on Private Property make sure you get permission, and anywhere you collect, make sure you have a field guide detailing the different species and how to tell them apart. Fair warning, unless they are in flower, it's not always easy to tell the species apart, and even in flower the flowers are often trashed by the time you collect them, making identification difficult. I used to have a really nice guide put out I think by the Department of Ecology showing in line drawings how to tell the different native and non-native Elodia and similar species, done mostly to show boaters what to look for. I can't seem to find it now though...
At any rate, suffice it to say that you can collect native and naturalized species, within reason. On Private Land, all you need is permission of the owner. Even in State Parks, rangers will often not say too much if you take a few cuttings or seeds. If you dig up plants, that they will definitely object to, but a few cuttings will usually not be questioned too much, depending on the ranger. With most aquatic plants, they reproduce more by cuttings than by seeds anyway. The Federal Parks is a whole 'nother question. Don't take ANYTHING out of a federal park, not even rocks.
Hi guys, I've been browsing through here for a while, but since this is something close to my interests, I thought I would chime in...
First, the Washington Native Plant Society page linked to above is an excellent guide to ethically collecting plants (native or not), but make no mistake, this is a GUIDE, not a legally binding document. It is NOT illegal to collect most native plants in this state, plants don't have the same protection as animals (including fish, but I don't think invertebrates have the same protections, not sure on that.) The ONLY plants that are protected in Washington are those on the threatened and endangered species list, follow the links in the WNPS page or search for Rare Care to find the up to date list. There are a couple of aquatic plants on that list, but the chances of you coming across any of those plants is pretty slim. They are that rare.
However, WHERE you collect makes a huge difference. You can collect anything on private land, so long as you have permission of the property owner. You cannot transport invasive species on the quarentine list, however, so keep that in mind, and do your best to look closely at Elodia species and other floating weeds to see if you have a native or not. My experience is that 99% of what you see will be the weedy species, but Elodia canadensis is still fairly common in many waterways, and you may be able to find a few stems of it along with the usual weedy ones. Basically look for the one delicate stem among the hundreds of more aggressive looking, thicker stems, and check the leaves to be sure you have the right species. All you need to supply a pond is one or two stems, and you can create a nice pond with it.
You can NOT collect in any state or federal park without a permit, and in the latter case unless you are doing some serious research and have a gov't contract to do it, that's not likely to happen. Last I checked, you can get a permit to collect in State Parks, through the State Department of Fish and Wildlife I believe. Contact them for details. Usually you can get permission if there is some kind of work being done in a park (clearcutting, road building, dredging, etc...) and the permit is specific to that location. I haven't heard of a permit for collecting aquatic plants, but I don't see any reason they wouldn't allow it if there was a site that generated plants that would be collectable. Local (city, county, etc) parks each have their own regs for this kind of stuff, so either take your chances and be discreet about it, or check with local parks departments on what the regs are. There may not even be any.
In the case of aquatic plants, in the past (I haven't done it in years, but I did try it once and got some starts of a few natives including Elodia canadensis and Ludwigia), if you can find out when the parks departments are dredging a local pond or lake, you can ask about going through the pile of plants they dredge up. Depending on the crew, they are often more amused than anything and will let you poke around so long as you don't get in the crew's way and are willing to let it go once they are done working and need to clean up. This is a great way to get tubers of the native spatter dock/ yellow pond lotus (Nuphar polysepalum) as they often specifically dredge to remove the roots as well as the leaves. These guys can have HUGE root systems, especially when they are growing deeper.
Hanging around a boat launch and going through the piles of weeds attached to props may occasionally score you a stem or two of native Elodia and such. Rare, but it can happen. These plants are trashed anyway, so if you can grab something you want, all the better. Be aware, most of the plants caught in boat props are the weedy ones you are specifically NOT supposed to transport, this is exactly why the laws are in place to begin with, and this is where the parks folks are most likely to watch, so be prepared to justify you identification of the plants, preferably with a clear guide to the different species to anyone who questions it.
Collecting plants can be pretty rewarding, you can find plants no one else is growing. There are some native and non-weedy non-natives out there that would make good cool water aquarium species. Utricularia anyone? I had a really cool one with big bladders, but it never flowered so I wasn't able to identify it beyond genus. We have also a number of native plants that will do well in shaded ponds too, something the pond specialists tend to say isn't possible, lol.
Do be mindful of where you collect though, and if on Private Property make sure you get permission, and anywhere you collect, make sure you have a field guide detailing the different species and how to tell them apart. Fair warning, unless they are in flower, it's not always easy to tell the species apart, and even in flower the flowers are often trashed by the time you collect them, making identification difficult. I used to have a really nice guide put out I think by the Department of Ecology showing in line drawings how to tell the different native and non-native Elodia and similar species, done mostly to show boaters what to look for. I can't seem to find it now though...
At any rate, suffice it to say that you can collect native and naturalized species, within reason. On Private Land, all you need is permission of the owner. Even in State Parks, rangers will often not say too much if you take a few cuttings or seeds. If you dig up plants, that they will definitely object to, but a few cuttings will usually not be questioned too much, depending on the ranger. With most aquatic plants, they reproduce more by cuttings than by seeds anyway. The Federal Parks is a whole 'nother question. Don't take ANYTHING out of a federal park, not even rocks.