Jun. 12—Days before a seedling swap scheduled last weekend at the Boulder Public Library, event organizers received word from the Colorado Department of Agriculture that the event needed to obtain a nursery license in order to continue.

The information provided by the department through email cited the portion of the Colorado Nursery Act that requires all who intend to sell and distribute "nursery stock" register and be licensed.

But after discussions with the Boulder Public Library organizers, the Department of Agriculture decided the events could proceed — primarily because they are considered plant and seed swaps and not commercial sales.

"We did an initial review, and right now, the decision was made that since this is not for commercial purposes, it should not be subject to the act," said Rich Guggenheim, the nursery, seed and phyto program manager with the department.

Either way, he noted the rule would technically only apply for native plants — those which occur naturally in the region in which they evolved — not annuals or vegetables. The event scheduled at the library would have had both, but organizers decided against hosting it without a clear understanding of the rules.

The discussion with organizers of the Boulder swap was an important one, given that it offered some insight into the varied interpretations of the law and the ways in which it might be more cumbersome than intended.

Guggenheim said the state agricultural department does intend to review it in more detail at a later time, but an official timeline has yet to be determined.

"We're definitely not here to shut it down," Guggenheim said. "It's an opportunity for us to take a step back and say maybe it's a little more involved process from their end and talk about how we can make it easier for people."

When this happens, Donna Waters, who lives just northwest of Boulder on property in unincorporated Boulder County, hopes the department will include a variety of voices in the conversation.

"We are all stakeholders as gardeners," she said. "We all should have some say."

For those who enjoy growing native plants and sharing plants and locally grown food with their neighbors, it feels important that events such as the one originally planned at the library are able to continue with relatively little oversight.

"I feel really strongly that given the food shortages and the supply chain issues that we're having, this is something that we really need to encourage," Waters said.

The original interpretation of the Colorado Nursery Act is meant to protect people from unknowingly spreading pests and diseases that can be environmentally and economically devastating, Guggenheim said.

While she disagreed with the idea that a local plant swap should be required to obtain a license in order to operate, Denver resident Peggy Hanson acknowledged the intent of the rule.

"We don't want to be spreading disease or anything in these plant materials so we are certainly hoping to make sure our participants understand that," she said.

Hanson is on the board of the Wild Ones Front Range chapter, a nonprofit environmental education and advocacy group that serves the Front Range, including Boulder. The group was involved with the canceled swap in Boulder.

Denver resident Idelle Fisher, also a Wild Ones member who planned to attend the canceled Boulder swap, agreed. She's long been a gardener but only recently discovered the benefits of growing native plants, something she attributes to the fact that they're rarely offered at nurseries.

Now, she's slowly working to incorporate more native plants, which are low maintenance, and less lawn to water, fertilize and mow.

According to the Audubon Society, native plants have numerous benefits, including preserving biodiversity and supporting pollinators, such as birds and bees.

"You're basically creating this natural area right in your backyard so you can see lots of wildlife without ever having to get in your car and go anywhere," Fisher said. "You can still have a little patch of wild."

It's important to recognize that natural resources are at stake but also to recognize that plant swaps can play a role in improving the situation, Hanson noted.

"Hopefully we can just continue to be a community that shares," she said. "That we share wisely but that we're allowed to share."

With the go-ahead from the state, Wild Ones is hosting a plant swap from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at EarthLinks, 2746 W. 13th St. in Denver. It will have another event scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon June 18 at 300 Laporte Ave. in Fort Collins.

Learn more at frontrangewildones.org.