2024 -- H 8135

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LC005693

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

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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

     Referred To: House read and passed

     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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