US (NC): Tribe officially opens Native Plant Nursery Facility

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians will now be able to provide native plants for various projects due to the opening of the Native Plant Nursery Facility in the Birdtown Community. The 2,200 square foot facility was officially opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Tuesday, July 22.

“For this Tribe and our people, I think this is very groundbreaking today,” said Forrest Parker, EBCI Deputy Operations Director, as he described the magnitude of the project.

“On behalf of the Principal Chief’s Office – he’s on travel today in D.C. – he wanted me to thank everyone who had a hand in this,” said Parker. “This means a lot to our people. It means a lot to this administration. This administration has been very committed to natural resources management…it’s just a very rewarding day. A project such as this benefits much more than just our environmental programs.”

Patrick Breedlove, project manager within the EBCI Office of Environmental and Natural Resources, commented, “This is a great day for me and our office.”

He added, “This greenhouse is to propagate five native plant species including: silky dogwood, black willow, Carolina rhododendron, Catawba rhododendron, and mountain laurel. Over the past three years, we have installed about 75,000 plants so this facility is going to be critical, and one goal for our program, going forward, is to provide native plants for tribal projects and providing cultural significance to the projects on the reservation.”

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