A Blooming Relationship

In its April 2014 meeting, the North Atlantic LCC Steering Committee unanimously appproved Bill Brumback, Conservation Director from the New England Wild Flower Society, as the newest member of the LCC Steering Committee. The New England Wild Flower Society is dedicated to conserving and promoting the region’s native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

"The LCC is asking the right questions about how to sustain natural resources in the face of climate change and other threats," Brumback says. "The New England Wild Flower Society will be able to contribute our knowledge of plant conservation including the role of seed banks in helping to sustain plant species in the face of climate change and the importance of using native plants for restoration and management."

Founded in 1900, the Society is the nation’s oldest plant conservation organization and a recognized leader in native plant conservation, horticulture, and education. The Society’s headquarters, Garden in the Woods, is a renowned native plant botanic garden in Framingham, Massachusetts, that attracts visitors from all over the world. From this base, 25 staff and more than 700 volunteers work throughout New England to monitor and protect rare and endangered plants, collect and preserve seeds to ensure biological diversity, detect and control invasive species, conduct research, and offer a range of educational programs. The Society also operates a native plant nursery at Nasami Farm in western Massachusetts and has seven sanctuaries in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont that are open to the public.

A leader in plant conservation in New England, Brumback initiated the New England Plant Conservation Program (NEPCoP), a regional voluntary collaborative of representatives from over sixty organizations.  He led the initiative that resulted in publication of Flora Novae Angliae, and co-authored A Guide to Invasive Plants in Massachusetts (2006), and Flora Conservanda: New England, the NEPCoP list of plants in need of conservation (1997).  For more than two decades, he has worked on recovery projects for four federally endangered species. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University.