Every time I do a diary entry- somebody says 'It'll save money, complete the mission of the ARB, management knows best, etc. This is my non-comprehensive list of responses to the sheep. If I refer, repeat or add to it from time to time- understand!
It'll save money:
Characterizing it as a financial problem is completely misleading, as
Aaron Cook and Don Hyatt have pointed out. The loss of the $100,000
grant money only removes two gardeners from the Asian Valley, and has
nothing to do with other areas of the arboretum unless they plan to
replace them with gardeners from other areas
Bob Stelloh
Arboretum Mission:
The functions of the National Arboretum can be itemized as follows:
a.) To popularize plant knowledge directly...by establishing a close affiliation with established garden clubs, nursery associations, botanical and other societies, also by means of lectures, publications and cooperation with the press.
b.) To preserve the rarer plant life of the world. There are many species of plants which are threatened with extinction ... Also we should not overlook the preservation of historic species and varieties of plants that were once of great service, but which are in danger of being lost through change in fashion or taste, difficulties of propagation or neglect.
c.) To maintain species collections of economic and ornamental plants.
d.) Exhibition of plants. The above-mentioned purpose leads directly to the exhibition of plants. ...Therefore the Arboretum should be developed with the stress placed on effect, rather than botanical relationship. This does not mean that related plants cannot be placed together because in general, related species have the same growth habit.
e.) To maintain research.
f.) To publish.
Henry Skinner
Management Analysis:
To Mr. Rabideau, Manager Rarefind Nursery, Nov. 9, 2010
CC: Dr. Ramon Jordan, Barbara Bullock, Carole Bordelon, and Margaret Pooler
From Scott Aker, Gardens Unit Leader, U.S. National Arboretum
Ref: http://groups.yahoo.com/...
Thank you for your inquiry. We have indeed been forced to plan the removal of most of the azaleas on the Glenn Dale Hillside. While we have only had slight reductions in financial resources for the past ten years, our costs have gone up steadily, and our staff numbers have steadily eroded to the point where we cannot sustain all of our collections. Recently, we learned that a donor that has supported two gardener positions on our staff will no longer be providing that support, and the loss of this staff has resulted in the need to deaccession collections. We will be deaccessioning our National Boxwood Collection and the co-located Perennial Collections as well as the Glenn Dale Hillside portion of the Azalea Collection.
...
Although volunteers have been active in restoring the Glenn Dale Hillside after a period of abandonment in the 1980s, it is inaccurate to state that the Hillside has been restored and maintained with volunteer labor alone. The staff hours spent in maintaining this area are greater than the volunteer hours spent there and have been consistently.
I cannot dispute the beauty of the display and its value as an attraction for our visitors. Currently, again in part to diminishing resources, we are now unable to accommodate the crowds of visitors in April and May when the azaleas are in bloom. We have inadequate parking and restroom facilities. It is becoming progressively more difficult to ensure a positive and safe visitor experience during this time frame, and some shifting of priorities in the Azalea Collection are needed to address this. We plan to incorporate a greater diversity of azaleas, most notably late blooming native species and cultivars derived from them, as well as Kurume and Satsuki azaleas that bloom later. We will still have a very significant display of azaleas that bloom in the late April / early May time frame.
This is not being driven by the need to use the land for other purposes; it is rather driven by the need to reduce the total labor needed to maintain our collections in an acceptable manner.
...
Thank you for your interest in developments here at the U.S. National Arboretum.
Scott Aker Gardens Unit Leader U.S. National Arboretum
3501 New York Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002-1958
Scott doesn't plan to use the land for other research or display purposes- he plans to plant smaller azaleas and fight the erosion of the hillside- How?
According to Scott Aker - the Arboretum is a Unsafe, a less than Positive place to visit, with Inadequate parking and restroom facilities.
You know it's true- he's the Gardens Unit Leader! And he's not planning to do anything about the inadequate parking and restrooms, or improving the visitor safety and experience. He's looking at reducing the overall labor costs by adding more high maintenance plants and removing old azaleas (without labor) and replacing them with younger, tender plants that will require water, planting and care (also without labor). He can forget about volunteer labor to remove the old azaleas, and probably planting the new hillside. So he's looking at blowing the labor budget, right off! Great management style!