December 10, 2007
Sour Oranges or Public Good?Invasive Species
, Plants and Crops
What would you do if someone came into your yard univited and cut down one of your trees? What if that someone was the state and the tree one you've enjoyed the fruits of for many years?
Over the last decade or so, these questions have moved beyond the hypothetical for many Floridians.
In an effort to eradicate citrus canker, state agricultural crews destroyed infected trees, along with any additional citrus trees within 1,900 feet. Whether in orange groves or somebody's backyard, the trees were coming down -- over 16.5 million total (PDF |112 KB).
As the Washington Post reports today, some folks weren't too happy with that, leading to five separate class-action law suits. The key issue: whether the compensation received -- a $100 WalMart gift card for the first tree, $55 cash for the remaider -- was sufficient for trees that fed a family for years.
I can understand the reaction. I have a friend, a true native Floridian, whose ancestors first settled there in the 1860s, who says she never bought citrus until she came north for graduate school. She got her fruit from the trees in her backyard, or her neighbors' yards, knowing whom to visit for Florida lemons, calamondin oranges or sweet tangerines. Her family still gets fruit that way, a simple, steady, seasonal presence.
Those backyard trees, it seems, are central to many Floridians' identity. They're something that makes Florida Florida.
Of course, the same can be said of the citrus industry.
Which brings us back around to the citrus canker eradication program.
Cutting down infected and exposed trees was meant to halt the spread of this highly contagious disease and spare greater losses to Florida's #1 crop. Unfortunately, it didn't work. During the intense hurricane seasons of 2004 and 2005, the resulting wind and rain created the perfect means for spreading the bacteria beyond manageable levels.
Things got so bad that in January 2006 the USDA decided citrus canker could no longer be eliminated without inflicting permanent damage to the citrus industry. They'd have to cut down so many trees to eradicate the disease that the growers simply couldn't recover.
Enter the Citrus Health Response Program, a collaborative effort to scientifically control canker's spread and to safeguard the citrus industry. Though citrus canker is harmless to humans, Florida citrus is now under quarantine (PDF | 66 KB). No citrus may leave the state without receiving a limited permit, and no Florida citrus may be shipped to any other citrus-producing U.S. state or territory.
That means all you folks in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Texas will need to fill your holiday baskets with oranges grown elsewhere. And for the foreseeable future, please tell your Aunt Judy in Bartow not to send any grapefruits from the tree in her yard -- unless she wants to get her fruit treated, packed and inspected at an approved packinghouse.
So, the tree cutting is over. The lawsuits go on, however, wrestling with the issue of compensation, but also with the questions I opened with, questions that seek to examine the line between private property and public good, between individual rights and state powers.
I don't begin to know where to draw that line, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. No law degree required.
Finally, for more on citrus canker, check out the books and articles here at the Library. With eradication unlikely, we need to know all we can about this contagious, costly disease.
Posted by Mary Ann Leonard
Added to Invasive Species and Plants and Crops on December 10, 2007
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Lively discussions and different opinions are encouraged within the bounds of respectful civil discourse. Questionable language, personal attacks, off-topic comments, and gratuitous links will either be edited or deleted. Comments are moderated and will not appear on InfoFarm until they have been approved.
We can't grow citrus in New York but, I think that if people loose their property they should be compansated for that loss even though it may be for the common good. The other comment I would like to interject is that I think the citrus people should share more of those sweet, juicy lemons that grow in some of the back yards instead of sending all of those tart ones. I never knew how pleasant it was to eat a fully ripe lemon. |
Submitted by: James Hilderbrant on December 14, 2007 11:22 PM
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Very good discussion. Citrus cankers are certainly a bad sign for any fruit tree or bush. I do think they are doing a good deed by cutting down the trees that were already infested with canker; there is no way to stop cankers yet you can try to minimize it. One suggestion for those fruit lovers might be to find a citrus tree cultivar that is resistant to cankers and replace the trees taken out with new ones. |
Submitted by: Amanda Slykerman on April 1, 2008 02:52 PM
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I thought we do not have that issue any more here in Florida. You can have orange trees in your back yard...
"What would you do if someone came into your yard univited and cut down one of your trees? What if that someone was the state and the tree one you've enjoyed the fruits of for many years?"
Tracy
Miami |
Submitted by: Tracy on April 28, 2008 03:06 PM
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