Natural History Wanderings

from the California Native Plant Society

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the first piece of California legislation to specifically address plant poaching, making it illegal to remove dudleya from state and private lands. In recent years, law enforcement officials have documented an alarming increase in the large-scale harvest of these precious native succulents from California wildlands.

Authored by Assemblymember Chris Ward, AB 223 is part of an effort to stop rampant poaching of dudleya. While media reports have focused on a number of high profile busts that have included thousands of plants, “we fear that this is just the tip of the iceberg,” noted CNPS Conservation Program Director, Nick Jensen. “The pressure from illegal harvest could place some of our state’s rarest species on the road toward extinction. Plants are being sold internationally via social media and online marketplaces are filled with mature dudleya specimens that were likely taken from the wild.”

CNPS wholeheartedly thanks Governor Newsom for signing AB 223 into law. This bill is an important step in furthering California’s commitments under Executive Order N-82-20 to protect biodiversity, including protecting 30 percent of California by 2030. We also commend Assemblymember Ward for his outstanding leadership in authoring the bill and championing it through the state legislature.

Chalk dudleya (Dudleya pulverulenta).

Read more: https://bit.ly/ab223-signedf