| R 198 |
| 2024 -- H 8135 Enacted 04/04/2024 |
| H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N |
| PROCLAIMING APRIL OF 2024 TO BE "NATIVE PLANT MONTH" IN THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND |
Introduced By: Representatives McGaw, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Chippendale, Speakman, Vella-Wilkinson, Henries, DeSimone, Spears, and Cotter |
| Date Introduced: April 04, 2024 |
| WHEREAS, In April of 2021, the federal government declared “National Native Plant |
| Month” to encourage public awareness about the correlation between native plants to pollinators |
| and other wildlife, to the economy, and to the health and sustainability of our fragile ecosystems; |
| and |
| WHEREAS, Native plants are the indigenous terrestrial and aquatic species that have |
| evolved and adapted to the environment and biological conditions in a particular geographic |
| region, ecosystem, and habitat; and |
| WHEREAS, Rhode Island has recognized 1,200 native plant species which include trees, |
| shrubs, perennials, vines, aquatic plants, and grasses, as well the globally rare native-plant |
| ecosystem, the Coastal Oak Holly Forest; and |
| WHEREAS, Some of Rhode Island’s rarest plants are federally listed under the |
| Endangered Species Act of 1973, and include: American ginseng, bunchberry, small-whorled |
| pogonia, and several species of orchids; and |
| WHEREAS, Native plants are essential for healthy, diverse, and sustainable ecosystems |
| and are critical for cleaning air, filtering water, and stabilizing soil; and |
| WHEREAS, Advantageous to soil, native plants do not require fertilizers, require fewer |
| pesticides than lawns, less water, prevent erosion, and increase the soil’s capacity to store water; |
| and |
| WHEREAS, Native plants invite native birds, butterflies and other beneficial insects to |
| our yards and parks by creating a habitat that feeds, shelters and provides nesting places for them |
| that non-native plants cannot; and |
| WHEREAS, Non-native plants are often invasive, spreading aggressively, and destroying |
| biodiversity by outcompeting native plants or animals to the point of extinction; and |
| WHEREAS, It is important to encourage public awareness about the benefits of Rhode |
| Island’s native plants to pollinators and other wildlife, to the economy, and to the health and |
| sustainability of Rhode Island’s fragile ecosystems; now, therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby |
| proclaims April of 2024 as “Native Plant Month” in the State of Rhode Island and recognizes the |
| importance of native plants to Rhode Island’s rich biological heritage and as a source of food for |
| pollinators and native wildlife. We moreover encourage all Rhode Islanders to remove nonnative |
| invasive plants in our yards and communities, and choose native trees, shrubs, and flowers when |
| making landscaping decisions; and |
| RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
| transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to Lavinia Gadsden, Little Compton Garden Club, |
| the Perennial Planters Garden Club of Providence, the Newport Garden Club, and the South |
| County Garden Club of Rhode Island. |
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| LC005693 |
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