Wow! Wow! Wow!
Man, I get distracted by work, then I come to terraforums and I see enough energy on a conservation project to fuel a mission to Mars!
Very Cool.
OK, so I have a lot to say on this stuff, I don't know if I'll get it all down correctly before lunch, but let's see if I can.
NOTE 1: First off, forget what Carl said about "Not bothering Barry" about this stuff. That's a load of poop. Consider me available at all times for being bothered. My email is
barry@carnivorousplants.org, or
barry@sarracenia.com, or
bamrice@ucdavis.edu. You can PM me here at barry-rice. OK
Good.
NOTE 2: Carl, bless his heart, DOES NOT SPEAK ex cathedris for the ICPS, OK? So don't take his email to this discussion group as the final word of the ICPS. And CERTAINLY, Carl does not speak for me.
NOTE 3: Yes, the ICPS does have a lot of bureaucracy in it. It sometimes drives me friggin nuts. But I've found that I can usually get stuff done within its confines. But sometimes, things don't mesh with the ICPS mandate---that's fine, so what I've done is work outside it. For example, some of you may remember that a few years ago I got irritated at the US Forest Service for their (in my opinion) mismanagement of some cattle grazing on Darlingtonia land. So I created a very scathing web site. This was done outside of the ICPS domain. It wouldn't have been possible to do it with ICPS cooperation, and so I did it without ICPS cooperation. BUT I DID IT. IT WORKED. Similarly, I'm working on a Nepenthes clipeata project that may involve some cooperation with (shock! shock!) poachers. This is too morally "grey" to be an ICPS project. But it may have conservation benefit so I'm doing it WITHOUT ICPS cooperation.
NOTE 4: OK, so now we come to the idea of endorsements. And is this a good idea? I think that a USA NATIONAL COLLECTION OF SARRACENIA would be a FABULOUS idea. Got that? THIS WOULD BE GREAT!!!!!! Go with your energy, people, make this a project that would work.
That being said, you have to realize (as you have, obviously) that you are promoting something BIG. This isn't just a dinky plan. That means, in order to enhance the likelihood of being successful, you have to draw up a business plan. Your business plan must describe the following things:
PREAMBLE: describe the problem---what is lacking in the current state of affairs. Describe your SOLUTION, what you will do that will fix things. Make your dreams BIG, AUDACIOUS. Remember, if you set your goals too low, then if you succeed, your success with be only minor. Set your goals too high, and that way you will strive for greatness.
1-YEAR GOALS: Describe what you want to achieve in one year. Make these REASONABLE, and VERY DOABLE. Maybe it is just to study the situation, or to form a working group, and to start making connections. Or creating a web site. Or publish a note about your group in 6 journals.
BUT MAKE THIS CONCRETE. You want to be able to look, at the end of the year, and say if you achieved your goals.
3-YEAR GOALS: Describe your goals in three years. Expect this to be getting lofty. BUT BE CONCRETE
7-YEAR GOALS: MORE CONCRETE STUFF.
and so on. The integers you choose for the years, i.e. 3 years, 7 years, whatever, are arbitrary in this email. But it should give you an idea of what you need.
Once you guys develop an action plan, THEN people can look at it and understand what you guys are hoping. My guess is that until you do that, you may have 30 different people with 30 different visions. You have to get your supporters walking and talking towards the same goal.
Once you get an Action Plan (or Business Plan) together and agreed upon, you can start looking for endorsements. For example, I'd be happy to endorse it, and seek official endorsement from the ICPS, but I can tell you that the ICPS would not give you endorsement carte blanche without an idea of exactly what your goals, philosophy, and approach will be. For example, suppose I endorsed your idea without seeing your plan, and I didn't know that you were planning on poaching plants (don't freak on me here, I'm just creating a bad-situation scenario). Your plan would go down in flames as soon as you were caught, and I'd get mud on my face too. This is why a plan is NECESSARY for you guys to be taken seriously.
NOTE 5: Let's imagine a situation where, for whatever reason, the ICPS was taking forever to get off its butt and endorse you (even after you generated your great plan), or for some reason a leader in the ICPS decided your plan was no good. Wellllllll, then thumb your finger at the ICPS and go on ahead without them! Hey, I created the CP FAQ out of nothing but my own time, it started small and now it's huge and really successful.
OK, so I think that's all I have to say right now. I'll be watching with interest this program. I'll look forward to hearing about if you guys decide to include only pure species with provenance information, or hybrids too, or cool sports (such as weird variants) without location information, or cultivar hybrids, etc etc.
Can I help? Not too much right now---I'm completely overwhelmed with work (as well as training for a black belt testing in May!), but I could help in an advisory role (but not a leadership role). I could help you with drafting the business plan, for example. And I'll certainly be interested in donating plants to the cause.
In the future...if it looks like you guys can really pull this off, I suspect that it is quite possible (no promises yet!) that the ICPS might be able to kick in a few thousand bucks/year to help offset operating costs.
GET TO WORK! ANY IDEA WITH ENERGY BEHIND IT IS A GOOD IDEA!
Barry