Plant rescues can provide plants for invasive species restoration efforts, for propagation, for educational purposes or for use in your own yard.

1. Plant Rescues
One person can organize a rescue to save valuable
native plants from destruction due to development
!
Ed Travis, Austin NPSOT, July 19, 2014

2. Plant Rescues
What is a Plant Rescue?
Development puts native plants
at risk
Plant rescues can save valuable
native plants
A “For Sale” sign is essentially an
invitation to inspect the
property.
Individual circumstances
determine the ease of
collecting/saving these plants
Site of future
CVS Pharmacy
As a rescue organizer you can make a big difference!
Start with a small rescue and build your experience.

3. Urban/Large, Rural/Small
Plant rescues vary from one situation to the next
● The number of volunteers can vary from
one or two, to scores of participants
● Larger rescue efforts take much more
planning to provide access, parking, tools,
transportation, and care of rescued plants.
● The agreement with the landowner/
developer may be informal for small
rescues, but larger rescues should use
liability waivers, etc. to ensure protection
for the rescuers as well as for the
landowner/developer.
Dale Bulla (NPSOT member and Habitat
Steward) and John Chenoweth (Endangered
Species Biologist, BCP) at an Austin, Texas Plant
Rescue in Summer 2013
Photo: Pat Bulla (used with permission)

4. Uses For Rescued Plants
Obvious benefits to wildlife
● Food
● Habitat
● Places to
raise young
Photos: Ed Travis
(used with permission)
Capsicum annuum
Chasmanthium latifolium
Callicarpa americana

5. Uses For Rescued Plants
● As restoration plants for parks or
other areas damaged by non-native
invasives.
● As plant material for schools to use
in their outdoor education classes.
● For use landscaping rescuers’ homes,
gifts, etc.
● For use as propagation stock for
native plant growers
Revegetation after invasive species
removal at Mayfield Park in Austin
Photos: Ed Travis (used with permission)

6. Value of Rescued Plants
● One worker can save 50-75
small one to five gallon plants in
one day, worth $500-$1000.
● Uncommon or even rare species
are sometimes rescued.
● In one instance, the entire population
of the Cat Mountain strain of the
Bracted twistflower was saved
during Jenny Norman, NWF Habitat Steward, collecting an Austin plant rescue.
plants at an Austin, Texas Plant Rescue in
Summer 2013
Photo: Pat Bulla (used with permission)

7. Plant Rescue Partners
● There are MANY potential partners for a plant rescue that you may contact to
increase your impact
● Park support organizations like the Austin Parks Foundation
● Non-profits that support environmental causes like Keep Austin Beautiful
● Local NPSOT chapters
● Organizations such as the NWF Habitat Stewards, the Audubon Society, gardening
clubs, homeowner’s organizations, the Sierra Club, Recreational Sports clubs,
fraternities and sororities can all provide volunteers.
● The developer may be interested in portraying their project in a more positive
light, and may therefore be willing to provide logistic and even limited financial
support for a visible public acknowledgement from the participating
environmental groups.
● Start small, build a set of reliable partners, and repeat the effort as often as sites
can be identified and approval obtained.

8. Important Rescue Issues
● Access and parking, especially for larger rescues
● Safety, including water and food for longer/harder rescue
efforts
● Large rescue efforts need a lot of empty one and five gallon
pots, lots of trailer space, and facilities to care for plants during
rehabilitation.
● If you make it fun and rewarding (take some plants home) for
volunteers you’ll have more participants.

9. Plant Rescue Checklist
(Not all items are relevant for small/informal/rural rescues.)
● Identify legal owner of property
● Owner involvement and approval
● Establish overall bounds of rescue area
● Clearly stake out and/or tape off entire boundary of
rescue area
● Identify off-limits areas
● Determine access limitations, if any, and quantity and location
for parking.
● Method for on-site communication (cell phone, radio)
● Announcement: Date and time (start and end), printable
map with directions to site
● Pre-registration (if required, do NOT provide location until
individual is pre-registered)
● Check-in forms, staff, table
● Waiver of Liability (see attached example)
● Detailed instructions sheet
● Define scope of natives available (the opportunity)
!!
● Any restrictions on rescued plant disposition?
● For personal use
● For local city parks, etc.
● For resale?
● Equipment and materials (shovels, pails, water, etc.)
● Safety issues, e.g. weather; possibility of cancellation
● Volunteers identified
● Check-in staff
● Parking directors
● Plant identification experts
● Plant collection and removal area
● Trucks and/or trailers for transportation
!
● Publicity
● NPSOT News, chapter websites, blogs, etc.
● Local newspapers and other media
● Partner Organization newsletters