At the 2003 Association of Southeastern Biologists meeting in Arlington, Virginia, the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society sponsored a symposium entitled “The Crisis in Field Botanical Training: Loss of People and Knowledge.” This symposium was organized by Larry Stritch and Wayne Owen from the United States Forest Service and by Mike Baranski, Bill Martin, Mike Dennis, Andy Ash, and myself. The origin of the symposium originated with a call to Mike Baranski from Larry Stritch lamenting the lack of qualified field botanists to be hired by state and federal agencies.