On Tue, 13 May 2008 09:14:40 -0400, "Ker_01" <ker_01@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
>
><Persephone> wrote in message
>news:48237cee$0$4089$4c368faf@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> On Thu, 8 May 2008 08:35:27 -0400, "Ker_01" <ker_01@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>I'm in Puerto Rico (work trip) and would like to bring a handful of
plants
>>>back with me to Michigan (Mango, Avocado, etc- all fruit trees).
>>>
>>>I contacted APHIS by email and was told that they consider Puerto Rico
a
>>>US
>>>state (it is actually a US Commonwealth, but for USDA purposes it is
>>>treated
>>>as a state). They have no problems as long as I don't have endangered
>>>plants, and the plants are clean of pests and trans****ted without soil.
>>>
>>>I contacted the Michigan Dept of Agriculture to make sure they wouldn't
>>>have
>>>any problems with the im****t. They indicated that fruit trees are not
>>>regulated (they have a list of noxious plants, and a list of vegetables
>>>you
>>>can't im****t into the state). All good so far.
>>>
>>>I asked the workers at the USDA inspection station at the Puerto Rico
>>>air****t on my last trip if they had any concerns about bareroot fruit
>>>trees
>>>headed to Michigan, and they said that there shouldn't be any problem.
>>>
>>>I'm buying the plants from a government nursery, but the department I'm
>>>buying them from expressed two rules/concerns that I hadn't heard from
any
>>>of the above, and I'm wondering if anyone has specific experience and
>>>could
>>>help me understand what I should be prepared for when I show up at the
>>>air****t with my plants;
>>>
>>>(1) I was told that there is a new regulation (went into effect in the
>>>last
>>>week or so?) that limits the number of plants I can take through in my
>>>baggage. I'm probably still under any reasonable limit (I'm thinking of
>>>maybe 6 plants total). I checked the APHIS website but didn't see any
>>>postings for new regulations about quantity of plants
>>>
>>>(2) The APHIS fruit & plant im****t list actually lists the requirement
as
>>>"plants without soil" and I had originally been told that there were
other
>>>non-soil mediums that could be used to help retain moisture during
>>>trans****t. Also, I ordered plants from a Puerto Rico commercial nursery
>>>several years ago and received them ****pped in a soil-free medium. I'm
now
>>>being told that I can't/shouldn't use any medium and just carry the
plants
>>>completely bareroot, because the APHIS inspectors will just remove any
>>>medium anyway (or possibly not let the plants through).
>>>
>>>Does anyone have recent experience personally trans****ting plants from
>>>Puerto Rico, or anyone on this list from APHIS that could help me
>>>understand
>>>what to expect?
>>>
>>>Many thanks,
>>>Keith
>>>
>> I commiserate with you on the many demarches you have taken without
>> any definite solution.
>>
>> Faced with this kind of situation, I'd contact my Member of Congress
>> and ask for an operational answer. These folks LOVE to do
>> "constituent services", which they hope translates into votes next
>> election.
>>
>> If you don't know who your Rep. is, go to http://www.house.gov/
>> and follow the prompts. Depending on your time frame, you could
>> either call and ask for a Constituent Services staffer or --
>> preferably -- send an email or fax copying the dilemma you outlined
>> above, and follow up next day or so with a phone call.
>>
>> Heck, we pay these, uh, "individuals", so might as well get
>> some help when you need it! They have the access to
>> make a phone call or two and, one hopes, cut your Gordian knot.
>>
>> Let us know if you did it and how it worked out.
>>
>> Persephone
>
>Persephone-
>
>Thanks for the link and the suggestion. Unfortunately, I didn't have
enough
>time before my return trip to go through bureaucracy, so I took my
chances.
>Here is my final trip feedback.
>
>* At the air****t's main USDA inspection station (outside the air****t)
they
>inspected my plants. I had eight, and they told me if I ever have 12 or
more
>that I would need to go to cargo inspection, because they weren't staffed
to
>inspect large numbers at the 'normal' inspection station. My plants were
>very healthy, so they checked them and let me continue. I think this "12
or
>more" rule is what made the guy who sold me the plants think that I had
to
>do extra inspections/processing, but with a low plant count, it wasn't a
>problem.
>
>* When going through the air****t security checkpoint/x-ray, another USDA
>inspector wanted to see do***entation for the plants. She didn't make me
>re-open the box, but she did look at the business card of the person who
>sold them to me, and printouts of my emails from APHIS and Mich Dept of
Ag.
>Based on the initial attitude of the inspector, I think that if I hadn't
had
>that extra do***entation I might have had a problem, even though I
already
>had the USDA sticker from the first inspection on the box.
>
>* I asked at the gate for both of my flights if I could put my
(oversized)
>box in the cabin coat closet (where they put large fragile items like
>musical instruments, etc). Crew bags get first priority, then it is
>first-come, first serve. I was able to do so on both flights. I had
actually
>printed stickers saying "Live Plants", "Fragile", "This End Up", and
>"Climate Controlled or Cabin Baggage" and pasted them all over the
outside
>of the box- I think that helped the airline reps realize that I wasn't
just
>trying to take a random oversized box on the plane- somehow it looked
more
>official with the stickers.
>
>*For what it is worth, I built my own double-reinforced cardboard box so
>that it would be exactly 14 x 9 x 22 (carry-on size), then when I got the
>plants they were too tall, so I extended just the 22" dimension to about
3
>feet long total, so it ended up being a long skinny box. I think a wider
box
>might not have made it in the available cabin closet space.
>
>One of my plants didn't make it, but now I have 4 mangos, 2 Avacado, and
1
>fruit that I don't even know the name of- they are showing some plant
shock,
>but hopefully they will recover quickly.
>
>Best,
>Keith
>
Man, I bet you are not only incredibly charming and capable, but
exude good will. People fall all over themselves to cooperate with
you <g>.
Congrats, and good luck on your new orchard. Should be interesting
when the no-name fruit starts bearing.
Persephone
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