Reasons to be hopeful: Lessons from the symposium “The True Green Infrastructure: Model to Develop Native Plant Materials from Wildland Seed to Restoration” in the U.S.

By Amanda (Mandie) Carr, Coordinator of Botanical Communication and Outreach for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management Plant Conservation and Restoration Program

This symposium covered a national U.S. approach to developing commercially available, locally adapted native seed for restoring resilient ecosystems. Five speakers contributed talks highlighting attributes of using and developing native seed, from wildland seed collection (Sarah Barga, Research Geneticist with the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station), to monitoring after restoration (Matthew Germino, Supervisory Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey), to the history of native seed development by U.S. federal agencies (Francis Kilkenny, Research Biologist with U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station), to tools for native seed production and procurement (Anne Halford, Idaho State Botanist with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management), to boots-on-the-ground restoration after disturbance (Lynda Moore, Program Manager with the U.S. Forest Service Restoration Services Team). A presentation on the private sector business of native seed production was also planned, but the speaker (Jerry Benson, BFI Native Seeds, Inc.) was busy harvesting a bumper crop of native seed—welcome news as high temperatures and drought continue throughout much of the western U.S.

Successful restoration of native forbs and grasses along the historic Columbia River Highway State Trail between Cascade Locks and Hood River, Oregon. Image Credit: Lynda Moore, USFS Restoration Services Team

Convened by Peggy Olwell, Plant Conservation and Restoration Program Lead for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the live session of “The True Green Infrastructure” symposium drew in about 40 participants from at least 8 countries around the world, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the U.S. This diverse and expansive attendance demonstrates a truly global need for developing locally adapted native seed for ecological restoration. Discussions during the live session included the use of ecoregions for areas where seed transfer zones are not well defined. There was also discussion about modifying the protocol for the U.S. national seed collecting program, Seeds of Success, to ensure the genetic material of heavily disturbed and invaded native plant populations is preserved.

The increasing need for native seed associated with the climate and extinction crisis often lends a solemn tone to conversations about native plant material development, but “The True Green Infrastructure” symposium offered many reasons to be hopeful. First, Sarah Barga provided strong evidence for the importance of native seed collections in preserving the genetic material of native plant populations subjected to wildfire. Second, Francis Kilkenny identified that there has been an explosion of native plant development research in the U.S. since the 1990s, in what Kilkenny called a “renaissance of plant materials development.” Third, Matthew Germino demonstrated that monitoring after wildfire rehabilitation is a cost-effective way to inform adaptive management across a heterogeneous landscape. Fourth, Anne Halford explained the use of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Contract for Native Grass and Forb Seed Increase that lessens the financial risk for native seed producers. Finally, Lynda Moore indicated that the “all-lands approach” to collaborative restoration planning is gaining traction across the Pacific Northwest. Together, these highlights offer hope for the development of locally adapted native plant materials and their use in restoring adaptive and resilient ecosystems into the future.