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The Corps has grown from a small pilot program in Massachusetts to a regional corps engaging hundreds of volunteers all across New England.

Background
Recognizing the shortage of trained personnel and the labor-intensive nature of plant conservation, members of the New England Plant Conservation Program (NEPCoP) recommended that NEWFS initiate an effort to train volunteers to perform much-needed plant conservation fieldwork. After a small pilot program in Massachusetts, NEWFS launched the PCVs in 1998. Since then, volunteers have donated more than 50,000 hours of fieldwork and provided invaluable data to State Heritage Programs and NEPCoP professionals. The Corps is established in all six New England states, collecting data, performing management work, working with state Heritage Programs, and building a region-wide constituency for native plants.

Each volunteer receives classroom and field training as well as a comprehensive handbook. All volunteers can take part in special classes, field trips, and symposia. These educational programs, networking opportunities, and a yearly evaluation process ensure the reliability of volunteer work, as well as the enjoyment of the experience.

PCV Activities
Plant Conservation Volunteers are involved in a variety of plant conservation activities vital to the preservation of New England’s native flora:

• Rare Plant Monitoring—Volunteers regularly monitor the health of the rarest plants in New England, identifying threats to these populations and building a constituency for natural habitats and plant communities.
• Habitat Management—Volunteers manage lands for rare species and their habitats. Loss of open space through development and natural succession has become a problem as urban areas expand and rural areas return to forests. In the long run, we must focus on protecting entire habitats, rather than single species, but while striving to do this, we must also maintain individual plant populations.
• Survey and Control of Invasive Species—Under NEWFS’ guidance, volunteers assist in removal of invasive species from selected natural areas, particularly habitats where exotic species are just beginning to impact native flora.
• General Botanical Surveys— Much of New England, especially privately held lands, has never been surveyed comprehensively. We train PCVs to produce botanical surveys of both native and non-native plants and make management recommendations.

PCV Brochure. CLICK HERE to download a printable copy of the PCV brochure. [in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. See below for more information about downloading documents in Adobe Acrobat.]

Volunteer. To become a volunteer in this successful volunteer initiative, please fill out an application. CLICK HERE to download the PCV application form. [in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. See below for more information about downloading documents in Adobe Acrobat.]

Flora Conservanda: New England. Written from a regional perspective, this list contains plants growing in New England that are Globally Rare, Regionally Rare, and Locally Rare. It also lists plants that are considered Historic to New England (though they may exist elsewhere in the U.S.) and plants whose status in the region is yet Undetermined (more research is needed).

Rare Plant Species Lists by State. Each state in New England maintains its own list of state rare species. For links to the lists for each state, CLICK HERE.

Rare Plant Fact Sheets. Some states produce fact sheets that provide information on the distribution, rarity, and biology of selected rare species. These fact sheets are available to the public. Fact sheets are not available for all rare species. For links to the fact sheets for each state, CLICK HERE.

* NOTE: To view Acrobat files, you will need to have installed the free Adobe Acrobat reader which can be downloaded at the Adobe site. CLICK HERE to visit Adobe download page. If you have any difficulty downloading this document, please contact webmaster@newfs.org