Field collecting

[unknownclown]

Hey there

I was wondering if it is alway illegal. I did a search for CPs in the area and came across this .... Swollen Bladderworts (Utricularia inflata)
According to this there is an infestation and the state is paying people to get them out of the lakes.

Now Im thinkin Ill take some of that off of thier hands and they wont even have to pay me unless of course they insist

Anyone know who I should call so I dont end up finding my self with a huge fine?

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

Don't know if this will help, however Scott Beottcher in the Office of Permit Assistance 1-800-917-0043 might be able to tell you.  Found his name here:  Washington State Department of Ecology's Toll-Free (1-800) Lines.

Here's the site's Home page: Washington State Department of Ecology

 

[Ozzy]

From what you're saying I don't think it will be illegal. The laws vary from state to state. I think generally the law is you can't take any plant or plant material from private land unless you are the owner or you have written permission from the land owner. You can't take any protected plant from public land. Do a search to see if you can find your states laws.
I asked a similar question on the cp listserv last summer. I asked if it was wrong to take a plant that's considered a weed, like U.gibba from a roadside ditch. Since it's not threaded and it will not harm the population at all, because it'll grow right back.
I got one person that said if I take any plant for any reason it's wrong, but everybody else, including Barry Meyers-Rice said it's not wrong as long as it does not harm the local population of the plant. For the guys here that knows Barry, It's really shocking when he says it's ok to take a carnivorous plant from the wild.
If you can't find the info you need to show that it'll be legal you'll have to make the decision yourself. Be careful, the fines can be very high. In North Carolina, if you're caught taking vft's, you will be fined $2000 for every offence. Each plant you take is a separate offence. If you take 5 plants that's $10,000!
If you decide to get the U.inflata take the info that you have about the state paying to get rid of it.
Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[unknownclown]

well Im gonna try calling that number Big Carnivorous Kid gave first and going thru the motions. Im not in any major hurry since I dont have the gas to go down there to look for them at the moment anyway.
Im sure that there wont be any trouble with taking them at least Im hoping... There are some laws against removing plants that infest lakes just for the sake that they dont want it to spread to other lakes. Wich may be the case here.

 

[Darcie]

Yah, I think for the most part people don't care if you take the "weed"-like CPs, from what I gather, most laws where made to protect the cool oviously carnivorious ones from everyday people who want to keep them and just dig them up as a suvinear or whatever. At least, thats what happend in my state. It wasn't poachers trying to sell plants, but unknowing everyday nature lovers. We have laws protecting our reptiles and amphibians for the same reson, but they aren't as well inforced.

However, at least in my state, it is technically illegal to even move something on state propertie. Like, you can't pick up a rock and throw it in a pond. Granted this is almost never inforced, but some of the parks will go after you for it (I got with a warning for collecting some driftwood once)