Letter to someone who collected plants from the wild, is this to harsh?

[Peatmoss]

Thanks! I also am glad everything turned out well!

I just heard from him, apparently the plants are doing very well for him. At least he didn't kill them...

He also posted in a thread where I was looking for some plant locations and he said "Don't worry, if I find any, I won't touch them"

Hehehe, I think he is scared of getting chewed out by the "Masked Vigilante" again...

 

[chibae]

Hehehe, I think he is scared of getting chewed out by the "Masked Vigilante" again...

Sometimes that's all it takes.

 

[hcarlton]

Good to hear of at least one success story about this kind of thing. It's a good thing I learned these rules BEFORE I found my first wild CP's.

 

[richjam1986]

So... why isn't he puting the plants back? It's like saying, "it's wrong, but it's OK this time, so enjoy them!" Am I the only one that's thinking this? I can't be...He lives in the area, right?

I can understand if he has some trouble getting there, of course, but I think he should make a concerted effort to return the plants when he has the opportunity, whether that's today or a couple months down the road.

 

[richjam1986]

I think him keeping the plants, or even giving them away to others, sends the message that is was OK. It still encourages the practice of poaching for him and anyone he shares the plants with, whether he gets money in return or not, because he's still enjoying the results of his action!

 

[Peatmoss]

He is about five hours away from the location...

 

[richjam1986]

Ok, that makes it more understandable. Just hope he really learned the lesson here. Still, if and when he does go back to the area I think he should return them.
...In either case, now he knows, so no sense on my part beating this to death :/
You did a good thing Peat

 

[Wire Man]

Plus if he transplanted them this time of year they wouldn't have time to root in before winter and most likely wouldn't survive dormancy.

 

[richjam1986]

Plus if he transplanted them this time of year they wouldn't have time to root in before winter and most likely wouldn't survive dormancy.

Very true. Would have to wait for a suitable time of the year.

 

[nepenthes99]

Peat, I really appreciate your effort and consideration during getting this problem solved, but I must agree with richjam that it is not acceptable to just keep the plants for the collectors own enjoyment. Even if he has learned the lesson he has still harmed a small population of rare plants and once the plants are taken it will require some time for the population to replace them. I think he must be truly educated that collecting plants from the wild is one of the worst things a CP enthusiast can do and in most cases it will not all end up as okay as it is in this case. Poaching is an important issue and from the start he should understand that. If these were more endangered plants this could have even resulted in fines for taking protected plants.

 

[Iwest]

Peat, I really appreciate your effort and consideration during getting this problem solved, but I must agree with richjam that it is not acceptable to just keep the plants for the collectors own enjoyment. Even if he has learned the lesson he has still harmed a small population of rare plants and once the plants are taken it will require some time for the population to replace them. I think he must be truly educated that collecting plants from the wild is one of the worst things a CP enthusiast can do and in most cases it will not all end up as okay as it is in this case. Poaching is an important issue and from the start he should understand that. If these were more endangered plants this could have even resulted in fines for taking protected plants.

+1 to all of this

 

[cp777]

Nice work!

 

[asid61]

He learned his lesson, but if he lives 5 hours away it is not worth it to go there to return them. One way would be to grow them in the winter and transplant the older, healthier plants back there in the spring. Would be good for the environment then.