<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><o:SmartTagType
namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="address"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PostalCode"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceName"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceType"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Verdana;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:Arial;
color:windowtext;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1027" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<div align=center>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>
<tr>
<td valign=bottom style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.timescommunity.com"><span style='text-decoration:none'><img
border=0 width=375 height=66 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image001.gif@01C7CF6C.6A9D4DA0"></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%"
style='width:100.0%'>
<tr>
<td style='padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><a name=top></a><b><font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-weight:bold'>07/25/2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style='padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.5pt;font-weight:bold'>Pollinators in Peril <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style='padding:1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt 1.5pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-weight:bold'>By: Marshall Jones , Special to
the <st1:place w:st="on">Rappahannock</st1:place> News <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%"
style='width:100.0%'>
<tr>
<td valign=top style='padding:3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75"
coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe"
filled="f" stroked="f">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter" />
<v:formulas>
<v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0" />
<v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0" />
<v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1" />
<v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2" />
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth" />
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight" />
<v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1" />
<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2" />
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth" />
<v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0" />
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight" />
<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0" />
</v:formulas>
<v:path o:extrusionok="f" gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" />
<o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="t" />
</v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="" style='position:absolute;
margin-left:185pt;margin-top:0;width:225pt;height:149.25pt;z-index:1;
mso-wrap-distance-left:3.75pt;mso-wrap-distance-top:3.75pt;
mso-wrap-distance-right:3.75pt;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:3.75pt;
mso-position-horizontal:right;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;
mso-position-vertical-relative:line' o:allowoverlap="f">
<v:imagedata src="cid:image002.jpg@01C7CF6C.6A9D4DA0" o:title="Rnaturejones_story" />
<w:wrap type="square"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width=300 height=199
src="cid:image002.jpg@01C7CF6C.6A9D4DA0" align=right hspace=5 vspace=5
border=0 v:shapes="_x0000_s1026"><![endif]><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Which came first -
the flower or the pollinator? It's a question with no easy answer, for they
depend on each other for their existence. <o:p></o:p></span></b></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>There are of course
some major groups of plants which rely only on the wind for pollination,
such as grasses and many forest trees. But if a plant has a colorful
flower, you can bet that there's a winged visitor which appreciates that
blossom even more than we do, collecting sweet nectar and simultaneously
carrying pollen from bloom to bloom. <br>
Without the pollinator, there would be no seeds or fruit, and thus no
future generation of the plant - and ultimately no future generations of
the pollinator either. <br>
For many of our fruit trees and crop plants, honeybees - which were first
introduced to the New World by the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jamestown</st1:place></st1:City>
colonists - are by far the most important pollinator. Unfortunately, as
Jason Peck described in the May 30, 2007 edition of the Rappahannock News,
honeybees are now in a troubling decline, caused by the sudden and poorly
understood disappearing act known as "Colony Collapse Disorder". <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0
align=left>
<tr>
<td style='padding:3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt'>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Native Pollinator Protection <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>The fate of the honeybee has also brought
attention to the importance of taking care of our native pollinators, too.
These include not only bees, but also birds, bats and butterflies, some of
which are threatened by pesticides, disease or habitat fragmentation and
loss. <br>
Recognizing the importance of all of these to the pollination of native and
crop plants, in 1999 the California-based Coevolution Institute joined with
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to form the North American
Pollinator Protection Campaign. Today more than 90 organizations are part
of NAPPC and its efforts to publicize the importance of conserving
pollinators (www.nappc.org ).<br>
On June 29, the U.S. Postal Service joined the pollinator campaign with
stunning blocks of four stamps arranged in two different patterns. Each
stamp features a different pollinator, including Morrison's bumble bee of
the Western states, the calliope hummingbird of Western high mountain
meadows, the lesser long-nosed bat of the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Arizona</st1:place></st1:State> desert and the Southern dogface
butterfly. <br>
Although none of the species shown in the stamps is regularly found in <st1:State
w:st="on">Virginia</st1:State>, the dogface butterfly periodically wanders
north from its usual range in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">North
Carolina</st1:place></st1:State> and states farther South, to appear in
almost any part of the Commonwealth.<br>
<br>
What We Can Do to Help <br>
Although our native <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Virginia</st1:place></st1:State>
bats are not significant pollinators, they have other benefits - a single
bat may consume up to 600 mosquitoes per hour. To encourage bats, you could
put a bat house in a tree. Bat houses are sold with bird houses at many
stores, and Bat Conservation International has information about how to
build one (www.batcon.org).<br>
Hummingbird feeders probably need no elaboration here, but don't forget
Fuchsias in hanging baskets, which are hummingbird magnets, and most
importantly, the many beautiful landscape plants which provide hummingbird
habitat. Flowers most favored by hummingbirds typically are red, pink, or
orange and have long tubular flowers like Columbine, bee balm, trumpet
vine, and red buckeye. <br>
Bumblebees make small nests which generally do no damage, so the best way
to conserve these giant bees may be to avoid disturbing their nests or
spraying pesticides. <br>
Native mason bees, which can pollinate orchards as well as native plants,
will nest in wooden blocks with holes drilled into them. For details on how
to make a mason bee house, see the National Wildlife Federation's website
www.nwf.org/backyard/beehouse.cfm,or you can purchase a ready-made bee
house from a number of online suppliers.<br>
Finally, anyone with space for flowers - from pots on their deck to acres
of meadow - will attract a host of native butterflies. From there, it's
easy to take the next step and learn how to identify common species. The <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Virginia</st1:PlaceName>'s
Blandy Experimental Farm in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Clarke</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> has produced
an excellent online butterfly guide, with color photos and habitat
descriptions, available at
http://www.virginia.edu/blandy/ClarkeCountyLandUseSurvey/butterflyguide.pdf.<br>
<br>
Butterfly Day in <st1:place w:st="on">Rappahannock</st1:place><br>
Last Sunday was at the annual Butterfly Day sponsored by the Rappahannock
League for Environmental Protection's Biodiversity Task Force. Adults and
children joined Mary Willeford Bair of the National Park Service for a talk
about butterflies, followed by a walk around the naturalized habitats on
the property of Bruce and Susan Jones. If you missed the event, you can
obtain information by contacting the Biodiversity Task Force's Lead
Coordinator Pam Owen at FlyByNight books in Flint Hill (540-675-9989), send
an email to Biodiversity@RLEP.org, or go to www.RLEP.org . </span></font><font
size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign=bottom style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><script language="JavaScript1.1" src="http://bannerads.zwire.com/bannerads/bannerad.asp?ADLOCATION=1&PAG=791&BRD=2553&LOCALPCT=100&AREA=522&VERT=14421&NAREA=403&RULE=1&AT=JS&barnd=9589">
</script><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign=bottom style='padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><i><font size=1
color=navy face=Verdana><span style='font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Verdana;
color:navy;font-style:italic'>©Times Community Newspapers 2007</span></font></i>
<o:p></o:p></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<!-- Getmetainfo.cfm -->
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'>Jennifer Tsang<br>
<a href="http://coevolution.org">Coevolution Institute</a><br>
<st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">423 Washington St.</st1:address></st1:Street>
5th Fl.<br>
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:City>, <st1:State
w:st="on">CA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94111-2339</st1:PostalCode></st1:place><br>
T: 415.362.1137</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'>F: 415.362.3070</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'><a
href="http://www.nappc.org">www.nappc.org</a></span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color="#004000" face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;color:#004000'><a
href="http://www.pollinator.org">www.pollinator.org</a></span></font><font
color="#004000"><span style='color:#004000'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>