Dear JBS members: In response to yesterday's excellent presentations on the state of plant conservation in Maine, the suggestion came up that there may be room for improving legislation in the state to begin to move towards measures to protect rare (state listed) plant populations. Rep. Elaine Makas (Lewiston), one of the panelists, indicated that she may be willing to sponsor proposals (baby-steps in the direction of better protection, as she said) if we would put them together. I'd be willing to organize a group who might be interested in working on this, and am writing to find out who might be interested in corresponding/meeting to : a) review what has already been attempted and failed in Maine, b) review what measures exist in different states and countries, c) scope out what ( if anything) might be feasible in the Maine legislature, and d) draft a proposal for a bill. Tom Vining has offered meeting space at the Delta Institute (though, depending on who is interested, we could try to get together someplace most central for the group). Alternatively we could meet on this at the summer meeting. I'd be interested to hear not only from those who are interested in trying to work towards some improved legislation, but also from those who have past experience working towards this that they would be willing to share. Thanks. Loraine Kohorn Loraine Kohorn 344 Casco Rd. Brunswick ME 04011 Tel (207) 729-8448