BIDEN HITS ONE YEAR MARK; OVER 100 LEADERS PUSH FOR NATIVE PLANTING

February 1, 2022

WASHINGTON, D.C. – 104 leaders from almost 90 non-profits, businesses, educational institutions, and state and local governments are urging the Biden-Harris Administration to convert the grounds of the White House and U.S. Capitol to 100% native, pollination-focused, and pesticide-free landscapes immediately. In their letter, the signers request that all federal grounds within the District of Columbia be converted by 2024, while encouraging all states and United States territories to implement the same landscaping principles on their grounds.

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In light of last week’s one-year anniversary of Executive Order 14008 (January 27) that led to the creation of the “America the Beautiful” initiative, as well as the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), organizations are mobilizing across the nation to reverse emissions and achieve significant habitat restoration. Native plants are a critical component of thriving ecosystems, as they provide important food and shelter for wildlife, all while taking harmful greenhouse gases out of our atmosphere.

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“Reasonable, research-driven solutions, like these, yield tremendous benefits in our efforts to reverse climate change and increase biodiversity,” said Benjamin Swanson, Co-Executive Director of South Florida-based Waterway Advocates, Inc., the initiative’s leading organization. Learn more about these efforts and how we can #GoNative and create #ThrivingEcosystems together, at waterwayadvocates.org/plant-native.

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ABOUT
Waterway Advocates, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization serving the communities and ecosystems of Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach Counties, in South Florida. Our mission is to facilitate meaningful service-learning experiences that engage local communities in beautifying and protecting our ecosystems.

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PRESS CONTACT
Benjamin Swanson
ops@waterwayadvocates.org
P.O. Box 8734, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33310
954-667-7710

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SUPPLEMENTARY LETTER FROM WATERWAY ADVOCATES

Honorable Leaders,

In addition to the attached sign-on letter involving over 100 signatories, Waterway Advocates respectfully submits this supplementary input on behalf of our organization.

In light of last week’s one-year anniversary of Executive Order 14008 that led to the creation of the “America the Beautiful” initiative and our national goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030, organizations are mobilizing across the nation to reverse emissions and achieve significant habitat restoration. Native plants are a critical component of thriving ecosystems, as they provide important food and shelter for wildlife, all while taking harmful greenhouse gases out of our atmosphere.

There is an international and domestic drive to implement native landscaping. This is reflected in Thailand, where organic rooftop gardens sequester carbon from the atmosphere each night. We have several Embassies, like those of Tunisia and Switzerland, who are planting native and creating pollination hotspots in Washington. Also on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Canadian residence promotes public engagement in environmental conservation through their beekeeping programs.[1]
 

Simple solutions sometimes yield the greatest results. Implementing native landscaping in Washington will serve as the catalyst for a nationwide movement to #PlantNative, leading to significant economic and environmental growth. The United States Department of Agriculture estimates that pollinators add almost $20 billion in crop production revenue each year.[2] The larva of many pollinators, such as butterflies, moths, and other insects, rely on specific species of native plants. Doug Tallamy, a veteran professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, found that “native oak trees support over 500 species of caterpillars whereas ginkgos, a commonly planted landscape tree from Asia, host only 5 species of caterpillars.”[3]

The United States must use its position as a global leader to pave the way with innovative, creative, and reasonable solutions to our climate emergency. In our international collaboration, we must take a step back to review some practical ideas we can immediately act upon. Native landscaping is one idea that will play a critical role in surpassing our 30x30 and COP 26 goals.

Thank you for making our future sustainable (so that our future exists).

With sincere gratitude,

February 1, 2022

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20500

The Honorable Kamala D. Harris

Vice President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20500

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi

Speaker of the House

United States House of Representatives

H-232, The Capitol

Washington, DC 20515

Honorable President Biden, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, and other leaders,

We, the undersigned organizations, businesses, and municipal and educational leaders, work locally and nationally on issues relating to environmental conservation, water, and climate change. We write to urge you to convert the grounds of the White House and the United States Capitol to 100% native, pollination-focused, and pesticide-free landscapes immediately, and all federal grounds within the District of Columbia by 2024.

Furthermore, we ask that you vigorously encourage all states and United States territories to implement the same landscaping principles on their grounds.

We must take action to prevent the destruction of our intricate worldwide web of biodiversity. A 2017 study describes this as "biological annihilation," estimating that, "as much as 50% of the number of animal individuals that once shared Earth with us are already gone."[1] Insects that are vital to the survival of mankind are disappearing. Invasive flora and fauna are outcompeting their native comrades, having detrimental consequences on essential native pollinators. Societal emphasis on beauty and aesthetics, at the expense of environmental and human health, must stop.

We applaud the various U.S. ambassadors who are converting the grounds of their embassies into thriving native habitats. This simple, yet critical, step toward restoring native habitats throughout the United States will serve as an effective international model that is simple for nations, localities, businesses, and individuals to implement. Many organizations are already developing brilliant models, such as the Mt. Cuba Center, located in President Biden’s home state of Delaware. These thriving native habitats are also powerful agents of carbon sequestration, necessary in our strategy to reverse emissions and achieve significant habitat restoration, as outlined in the COP 26 goals. When we opt for native habitats and thriving ecosystems, instead of focusing primarily on aesthetic beauty, we take an easy step forward into protecting biodiversity and combating climate change. 

In the wake of COP 26, the United States must send a strong message, that we are not only beautifying our ecosystems but ensuring they thrive into the future. The well-being of our communities, economy, and ecosystems, depends on it.

With sincere gratitude,