As part of the celebration for the 50th anniversary of HSV Audubon, the Hot Springs Village Property Owners’ Association issued a proclamation on March 20 naming April 2024 as “Native Plant Month.”
The proclamation was presented to club president Normal Wall at the March 20 meeting of the Property Owners’ Association board. Thanks to Cheryl Dowden with the HSV Gazette for the photo!
The proclamation reads:
WHEREAS, native plants are an important part of Arkansas’s natural heritage, history, and identity; and are indigenous to our region. Native plants have adapted and evolved over many years to flourish in the unique geography, hydrology, and microclimates of our state; and
WHEREAS, more than 2,300 native plant species make for a diverse state flora; 11 of these species are endemic to Arkansas and found nowhere else in the world; and 5 of these species are federally threatened or endangered; and
WHEREAS, gardens and landscapes composed of Arkansas’s native plants conserve water, save energy, and reduce pollutants and pesticides in comparison to turfgrass; and
WHEREAS, native plants provide high-quality food and shelter for Arkansas’s native wildlife including birds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators, and both game and nongame species; and
WHEREAS, native plans support more than 300 species of resident and migratory birds in Arkansas, many of which are of concern and increasingly threatened by climate change; and
WHEREAS, native plants and their derivatives provide food, medicine, and other essentials; Arkansas has benefited from the economic impact of native plants, ranging from pecans to muscadine; and
WHEREAS, the Arkansas office of the National Audubon Society as well as other organizations and businesses, including nurseries and retail garden centers, work to expand the market for our native plants; and
WHEREAS, by cultivating Arkansas’s native plants, we honor our heritage, sustain the beauty and benefits of our environmental resources, and preserve a natural link to wildland areas both past and present;
I, JoAnne Corry, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Chairperson of the Board of Hot Springs Village Property Owners’ Association, do hereby proclaim the month of April 2024, as
Native Plant Month in Hot Springs Village
And I encourage its observance to all Arkansans to celebrate native plants.