Louisiana wildflowers will be popping up along roadsides soon thanks to a seed bank being created at the 小蝌蚪APP.
The $1.7 million project - a collaboration between UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, SLU and state Department of Transportation and Development, Louisiana Project Wildflower and First Lady Alice Foster - calls for the collection and propagation of wildflower seeds and ultimately the enhancement of the state小蝌蚪APP檚 welcome centers, highways and scenic by-ways.
Specifically, the seed bank would be located at the former university-owned creamery adjacent to the Ira Nelson Horticulture Center with partnering universities working on project activities for seed source identification, collection and processing. Mary Courville, director of Louisiana Project Wildflower, will lend her guidance to the project by helping with species identification, site selection, seed collection and any future developments of seed production. DOTD will facilitate implementation, monitoring and reporting.
小蝌蚪APP淭his is a wonderful project not only for UL Lafayette but for the whole state of Louisiana,小蝌蚪APP said Dr. Linda Vincent, dean of the College of Applied Life Sciences at UL Lafayette. 小蝌蚪APP淲e are using our native wildflowers to enhance the already-beautiful place we live in.小蝌蚪APP
She noted plots of wildflowers would be located at the center and they would act as research plots. 小蝌蚪APP淚n addition to being beautiful, these plots would be, in a sense, research plots that are generating seeds for native wildflower multiplications,小蝌蚪APP said Vincent.
Alice Foster, Louisiana小蝌蚪APP檚 first lady, has been extremely active not only in promoting, but also in the actual planting of wildflowers across the state. Her seven year passion, she feels, has reached a remarkable turning point. 小蝌蚪APP淎s a result of this funding, the wildflower program can now be expanded to include invaluable research. Beautifying roadsides helps generate a sense of pride, positively impacts our economy and can be a deterrent to litter,小蝌蚪APP said Foster.
小蝌蚪APP The federal funds used for the wildflower seedbank are earmarked for just this type of project - scenic enhancement of our transportation system,小蝌蚪APP added Dr. Kam Movassaghi, DOTD Secretary. 小蝌蚪APP淲e are pleased to have been able to participate in a beautification project that will undoubtedly benefit all of Louisiana.小蝌蚪APP
Those benefits could come via tourism. 小蝌蚪APP淲ildflower plots attract a tremendous number of visitors,小蝌蚪APP said Vincent. For instance, in Iowa the 小蝌蚪APP of Northern Iowa became the state seed bank. And although the center where it is located is 30 miles from the Interstate, it attracts about 100,000 visitors a year. In Missouri, a site there attracts nearly 70,000 visitors per year.
After the project is under way, Vincent said the university hopes to sell cut wildflowers and seeds with all funds generated put back into the project.