[APWG] 2007=USFS working on policy to use native seeds? BLM too?

[Craig Dremann]

Dear All,

2007 is the 15th year anniversary of a US Forest Service botanist in
Oregon, who helped make an administrative change in his Forest's Manual,
with a new policy: NATIVE seeds to be sown in the forest whenever and
wherever seeds needed to be sown, like after fires, road reconstruction,
logging road closures, etc.

Plus, the purchase and sowing of any EXOTIC seed, had to be JUSTIFIED.

I understand that the USFS at the Washington Office (WO) is in the
process of establishing a similar policy, nation-wide?

Maybe someone from BLM can talk about BLM's current annual EXOTIC SEED
purchases--are they still still close to 1/2 million pound a year, like
they were in 2002?  

And is BLM making any serious efforts to eventually get completely off
the Crested Wheatgrass/Smooth Brome seed-truck, and is the agency in the
process of making any State-wide or Nation-wide changes, of a policy of
"local native ecotypes only"  for purchases/sowings of seeds for the
future?

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann, Redwood City, CA (650) 325-7333