in species status of imperilment. But Factor E of the decision, "Documentation of Historical Groves," did acknowledge the citizen accomplishments in this regard:"The petition provides and cites credible information to corroborate the claim that recent and historical outplantings of Florida torreya have been documented at localities outside of the native range of the species. The petition claims that the documentation of the species’ ability to survive and reproduce in the Southern Appalachians could be considered the completion of Action Item 5 of the species 1986 Recovery Plan, which states the need to 'establish experimental collections of torreya outside of its native habitat.' However, the petition further explains that the majority of the documented outplantings are not in locations that would 'give rise to new and expanding populations'. Ultimately, the relative reproductive success of the outplanted groves do not ameliorate the threats currently affecting the species in its native range (i.e. low population number, rarity of habitat, and disease, USFWS 2010)." Conservation controversies Management of Torreya taxifolia as an endangered species has engendered controversy because a group of citizens, calling themselves Torreya Guardians, launched their own recovery program in 2005 by exploiting a legal exception for plants in the US Endangered Species Act. They began experimental plantings in the Appalachian Mountains and northward by obtaining donations of seeds from the owners of horticultural plantings in North Carolina. Media and academic publications have both reported on the unusual character and progress of this citizen form of species recovery. Assisted migration (the policy debate) Assisted migration, also known as assisted colonization or managed relocation, became a controversial topic in both conservation biology and forestry soon after the name was coined, albeit informally, by Brian Keel in 2002 and 2004. In his graduate work, Keel proposed that an orchid endemic to coastal South Carolina be translocated poleward as a response to climate change. In 2004, this new possible tool for climate change adaptation became central in a species-specific debate published in Wild Earth. The forum topic was titled "Assisted Migration of an Endangered Tree." That tree was Torreya taxifolia. Connie Barlow and Paul S. Martin coauthored the pro argument: "Bring Torreya taxifolia North — Now." Mark W. Schwartz wrote the con argument: "Conservationists Should Not Move Torreya taxifolia." Barlow and Martin grounded their advocacy in a deep time worldview, as Martin was a well-known Pleistocene ecologist at the University of Arizona. Barlow, a science