to prevent irreparable harm, it tells the court to stay its hand generally so that administrative or licensing agencies will have a first chance to act to protect the state's resources in the areas committed to their supervision. It nonetheless gives the court authority to maintain jurisdiction so that it can adequately protect the state's resoures should the agency be unable or unwilling to do so.

Because certain administrative proceedings are themselves subject to judicial review under existing law, it is necessary to avoid the problems that would arise if two lawsuits were being litigated simultaneously over the same essential problems. Thus the bill says that if judicial review is already available, that review process should be augmented to make sure that it gives adequate consideration to adverse impact on the state's natural resources, and if this is done the need for the action provided by this bill disappears and the action can be dismissed.

The section is long and somewhat involved because it is designed to make sure that in whatever context the process or review arise, that review will equally and adequately operate to implement the constitutional concern for natural resources. In this sense the bill fills the gaps in existing review procedures, and supplements them where necessary, to assure adequate review without displacing existing administrative and judicial procedures, and without preempting the responsibilities of existing state agencies.

SECTION 6

Provides that any person who could bring suit under this Act is also authorized to intervene in an administrative proceedings upon filing a verified statement that the proceeding involves a question which may have an adverse impact upon the state's natural resources. It also says that the administrative agency shall consider alleged adverse impacts on the resources of the state and shall not give approval to any conduct which will improperly impair the resources. The purpose of these two elements of the section is to give administrative agencies a first opportunity to act within their own area of authority to protect the state's resources. Only if they refuse or fail in this responsibility is there to be judicial intervention. The section also provides that any existing judicial review of administrative action may be made more ample, as necessary, so that the court can undertake the responsibilities set out in this Act for the protection of the state's resources. Thus, whatever the source of judicial review, it will be identical in the scope and extent of consideration given to resource protection.

SECTION 7

Assures that citizens will have the opportunity to participate in administrative procedures to promote adequate consideration of natural resource protection issues. Because the various administrative and licensing laws are diverse in their provisions for citizen intervention, ranging from no opportunity to a series of concepts like "persons aggrieved", or "interested parties”, and with the somewhat uncertain meaning of these concepts, sometimes very narrowly construed (see the definition of "interested person" in the Inland Lake Improvement Act, MCLA 281.902 (d)), this bill authorizes the court to permit administrative intervention by those citizens who could sue under this bill, so that an adequate record may be made in those administrative proceedings. However, to prevent citizens from trying to circumvent administrative processes where available, it authorizes the court to dismiss a suit under this bill if such circumvention or attempted short-circuiting of procedures are attempted; the court is authorized to use its judgment to determine whether administrative procedures must be exhausted in a given case before judicial review may be sought.

Senator HART. Speaking for the Michigan Association of Nurserymen, our next witness is Mr. Marion Van Slooten.

STATEMENT OF MARION VAN SLOOTEN, MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF NURSERYMEN, BENTON HARBOR, MICH.

Mr. VAN SLOOTEN. Senator Hart, I am Marion Van Slooten of Van Pines Nursery Farms in Ottawa County. And on behalf of the Michigan Association of Nurserymen, I wish to thank you for the opportunity to give you an outline of the problems encountered by the nursery growers in their insect and disease control programs.

The Michigan nursery industry produces a wide variety of plant materials. Shade trees, evergreen, fruit trees, ivies, ground covers, bulbs, tubers, perennials, and other live plants are grown here and sold both in the State and throughout the country.

In 1968, the Michigan Department of Agriculture issued the following licenses:

Nursery licenses, 1,303.

Nursery dealers licenses, 2,493.

Plant dealers licenses, 784.
Native tree licenses, 21.

This is the basic Michigan nursery industry.

The Department of Agriculture inspected plants for the Michigan nurserymen as follows:

Acres of ornamentals, evergreens, and fruit stocks, 6,404.

Acres of perennials, 563.

Acres of nursery grape plants, 90.

Acres of asparagus, 144.

Acres of strawberry plants, 508.
Acres of blueberry plants, 2,396.

Acres of native trees, 5,627.

In order to determine the value of the industry, Michigan State University is presently making a study of the economic value of the products and the gross sales. This study is not complete, but the following figures are available.

1. Sales of nurseries and greenhouses-this is annual sales, 1967, $34 million.

2. Sales of other nursery production, $21 million.

This would include Christmas trees, perennials, fruit stocks, ground covers, and all other plant materials which are grown outdoors.

These figures were the wholesale values of the plants priced at the level they brought at the field. These studies have not been completed and some of the crops, like Christmas trees, are very difficult to get an exact figure.

The nursery industry provides plants for the forest, fruit farms, nut orchards and vineyards, and also provides plants for the beautification of our State. The annual volume of more than $50 million is an important factor in our State's economy.

All the nursery stock produced by the Michigan growers must be free of all insects and diseases and each shipment must be accompanied by a certificate showing they have been inspected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture before receiving this certificate.

I have compiled a list of the insects and diseases we and the other Ottawa County growers must control. These insects may not be found in every field, but every field will have an attack of one or more of these which must be controlled with chemicals.

I have an attached list which I will submit.

Senator HART. It will be received. We do have it.

Mr. VAN SLOOTEN. The following chemicals were used by our growers this past year to control the insects we have listed:

LECANIUM SCALE, JAPANESE BEETLE, BLACK VINE WEEVIL, STRAWBERRY WEEVIL, WIREWORM, BIRCH LEAF MINER, AND MEALY BUG

June

July

1-15 16-31

B-July

Pine needle miner.

Pine

A-April

(3)

(3)

(2)

(2)

(2)

July, when adults are flying.

B-July 1

Mr. VAN SLOOTEN. Most growers develop their spray programs from the advice of Michigan State University and the Michigan Department of Agriculture. Both are working toward improving existing programs and developing new ones. But developing a program is not always easy or simple. I will give you an example of a new insectand I have difficulty pronouncing this Exotoleia nepheos-pine needle miner, which was found in our Ottawa County fields 3 years ago. When this insect was first noticed, it was of a type that had not been identified before. Just this past July, Michigan State University identified it and named it. The life cycle of this insect is not known and before any control measures can be developed, the complete life cycle of the insect will have to be researched. It is a very small grub which chews out the buds of the plant, distorting the growth or completely stopping it.

This insect has rendered thousands of our trees unsalable with its attacks on the buds. We are cooperating with Michigan State University in working on controls for this insect. Several acres of trees have been set aside and our equipment and men will apply the test materials in developing these control measures. The men from Michigan State estimate it could be 5 to 10 years before the proper control measures are developed. In the meantime, we will suffer great losses from this pest.

Senator Hart, we growers would be the very first to throw out all the chemicals we are using if different control measures were available. We are the ones who must pay the bills. The cost of spraying fields in Ottawa County for one grower with 1,000 acres this past year was $15,000. This did not include the depreciation on his $10,000 worth of spray equipment.

One of the easiest diseases to spot is the Dutch elm disease. The dead remains of the stately elm tree are evident all over our countryside. I am firmly convinced that many other diseases would be spreading over the landscape if there were no control measures enforced by our regulatory agencies like the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

We have had evidence of the problems which occur when abrupt changes in control programs are initiated. After the ban on DDT this year, we followed the college's recommendations for the pine tip borer. After a year's spraying, we find the alternate controls do not work.

Senator, nurserymen are as good a group of conservationists as any other, and possibly better. We are aware of the results of the uses of chemicals, herbicides, and ground sterilants because we can see their effects at first hand. I know many nurserymen who have houses for purple martins all around their farms so these birds can control the insects, and any Christmas tree grower who has a mouse problem will grumble if the hunters get too many of the red fox which are controlling the field mice.

The theme of the American Association of Nurserymen is "Plant America." The plants we must use for this have to be thrifty, healthy plants free of all insect and disease pests. Both Federal and State governments have set the standards used on our plants for interstate and intrastate shipments.

Since Government determines the standards for these plants, then we feel that Government must share the responsibility of assisting