CalFlora needs support

[Peter Rauch]

[Here's an example of a project in "transition". If this stuff
is any good --of use to lots of folks-- then it deserves to be
perpetuated. Right? Check it out; if you think it's valuable,
let others know so.   Peter]

If you haven't taken a look at <http://www.calflora.org/>
www.CalFlora.org recently, I'd like to invite you to explore the
exciting tools and resources we've developed to discover
California's rich plant biodiversity.  We've developed quite a
bit recently, but without your active involvement, it may be
snatched from under your nose before you realize the depth of
its resources or extent of its potential future.

CalFlora now offers over <http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/photos/>
20,000 photos of California plants (representing about 1/3 of
the flora), a
<http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/photos/annotations.html> review
system to allow experts to correct misidentifications,
<http://www.calflora.org/> taxon reports for every plant
recognized in the state by the Jepson Manual and CNPS rare plant
inventory, information on over <http://www.calflora.org/xwalk/>
15,000 synonyms and how they were used in the past, and perhaps
most importantly, over <http://www.calflora.org/occ/> 790,000
observations of California plants and associated documentation.

Use of CalFlora by land managers, school children, researchers
and consultants is growing rapidly- this April alone, we
received over 380,000 requests for information-- that averages
over 500 requests per hour!  This information is finding it's
way into all sorts of uses, from children writing school reports
on local biodiversity to activists fighting development plans
that squash locally rare plant populations. No other website
offers such a broad scope of information, detailed down to the
original data source, yet remains accessible to the casual user.
The work that we do is important, and makes an immediate impact
supporting the conservation work of thousands of people across
the state.

Where else can you quickly create a list of, say, annual plants
likely to be found between 500 and a 1000 feet in Monterey
county that grow in coastal sage scrub?  Or last minute photos
needed to illustrate your presentation?  How about hours saved
retrieving observations reports for an obscure plant from
several herbaria, public agencies, private botanists, and
published literature?  Or more importantly, specific observation
locations for huckleberries suspected of carrying the
Phytopthora responsible for Sudden Oak Death?  If the number of
users and citations is a measure of accomplishment, than
CalFlora is an unqualified success.

But the price of providing information for free to those who
need it most is significant, and support for CalFlora is not
keeping pace with development.  As CalFlora moves from a
experiment run on a shoe-string to a self-supporting non-profit
organization, it needs your support to bridge the gap between
research-based development and a service supported by
diversified fundraising.

We are actively developing partnerships, fundraising
opportunities, and development potential with a wide array of
local, state, and federal agencies, foundations and non-profit
groups with similar goals, and cooperate sponsors who share our
goal to conserve and promote California's floral diversity.
Already we have formal written understandings with the
California Native Plant Society, California Department of Fish
and Game, and many other interested organizations and agencies.
But our research funding is spent, and CalFlora needs to raise
$150,000 by July 1st if it is to stay online.

If you use CalFlora, if you share our commitment to putting
information on biodiversity into the hands of people who can use
it to conserve our beautiful state, then I encourage you tomake
a donation to CalFlora
<http://www.calflora.org/contributions.html> at a level that is
significant to you.  Even if you are not able to make a donation
at this time, we need your active participation and creative
ideas to sustain and develop CalFlora.  Even a short letter of
support describing how you use CalFlora and it's importance to
you is enormously helpful as we approach foundations.  There is
much work to do, and we have many bold and exciting plans that
we'd like to develop, but without your support, CalFlora will
fade into a memory of a successful experiment laid to rest.

Please share this email with friends and colleagues who share
our interest in native plants and may benefit from CalFlora's
services.  And please contact me with any questions, news, or
ways that you would like to participate to keep CalFlora a
viable resource for all.

Thank you and
Best Wishes,
Tony
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Tony Morosco
 Technical Manager, CalFlora Database
  937 San Pablo Avenue, Albany, CA 94706
  tony-morosco at calflora.org   Ph:  510 528-5426
  <http://www.calflora.org/>http://www.calflora.org/
  FAX: 510 528-6399
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CalFlora needs your support to provide biodiversity information
on California plants. CalFlora is a 501(c)(3) non-profit
organization.