Mike Hellmann Retains CSSA Board Seat

(January 2022)

Former HSCSS President Mike Hellmann has been elected to the Cactus and Succulent Society of America board of directors for a four-year term starting in 2022.

In 2020, Hellmann was appointed to the 12-person CSSA board to replace a director who resigned. He has already served for about 16 months.

“My objective in being on the board is to help the C&S hobby in general, as well as provide a voice for mid-states and eastern groups that I believe was lacking in the past,” Hellmann said. He previously expressed interest in working for CSSA in the areas of membership and events.

In addition to serving as HSCSS president for 13 years, Hellmann was a long-running program chair and helped organize club shows and conventions. He is a former plant grower and wholesaler who now brokers young plant material.

Based in California, the Cactus and Succulent Society of America is an international organization for gardeners, horticulturists and scientists. CSSA promotes knowledge and conservation of cacti and succulents through publications, events, grants and other activities. It encourages propagation to discourage the collection of wild plants.

“The organization is really working hard towards conservation and making sure more of these precious plants aren’t pulled from habitat to be sold to the trade,” Hellmann said.