Could a green salad become as rare on the dinner table as spotted owls in the forests of the Pacific Northwest? Not likely, but a new report from a task force of UC and U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists, as well as produce industry representatives, recommends strong measures be taken to preserve and enhance the nation's genetic stockpile of lettuce varieties. In the just-published report, "Genetic Resources of Lettuce and Lactuca species in California," the task force cites key deficiencies in funding, personnel and facilities at both UC Davis and the USDA's Agricultural Research Station near Salinas. The latter houses what is believed to be the largest, most diverse collection of lettuce genetic resources in the world. Research by UC and USDA helped transform lettuce production from small truck gardens and urban backyards at the turn of the century into an $877 million-a-year industry in California. In 1992 California produced 75 percent of the nation's lettuce crop.