[PCA] Native seeds and federal agnecies

[Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov]

There is a LOT more to this issue than simply deciding to purchase 
natives.  There are many unanswered questions, some of which will be 
important to iron out before making rash changes. 

Members of the Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA; federal agencies, 
including BLM and Forest Service, and nonfederal cooperators) are working 
collaboratively toward addressing many of these questions (see: the Plant 
Conservation Alliance website, <www.nps.gov/plants/>)...but it won't be 
done in a day. 

What drives the demand?
The demand for seeds is "fueled" by forest fires on BLM and Forest Service 
lands.  A total of 96,385 fires and 9,873,429 acres burned were reported. 
This season was 125 percent above the 10-year average" (Other information 
can be found at: http://www.nifc.gov/stats/index.html).

Large number of fires in the 90s led to enormous demands for material for 
revegetation.  In 2002, Congress recognized that in order "to ensure a 
stable and economical supply of native plant materials for rehabilitation 
and restoration needs, agencies need to implement measures that facilitate 
the development of a long-term program to supply and manage native plant 
materials for use on public lands" (Interagency Program to Supply and 
Manage Native Plant Materials for Restoration and Rehabilitation on 
Federal Lands, Report to Congress, 2002, 
(http://www.nps.gov/plants/npmd/reporttocongress.htm)). 

In response to Congress’ request to develop this program, the BLM has 
established the Plant Conservation Program, within the Division of Fish, 
Wildlife and Plant Conservation, with Peggy Olwell as Program Lead.  Peggy 
is also the Chair of the Federal Committee of the PCA and is working very 
closely with many agencies to develop these new materials.  With shrinking 
federal budgets, agencies recognize the need to make the best of use of 
limited funds.

There are a lot of things we just don't know yet...
Which species are appropriate and where?
How do we grow these species? 
How do we harvest them?
How do we sow them?
Which species will do the work? 
What's the best way of getting those seeds/plants out there? 
How can the agencies obtain what they need in the quantities needed? 
Who will grow these species for the land management agencies? 

Perhaps the biggest problem?
Many native species are not commercially available 
(http://www.nps.gov/plants/meetings/bimonthly/mar2007/erickson/index.htm). 
 Developing these materials equates to developing a new crop, and that can 
take 10-20 years. 

Working with the private sector to develop the materials:
The Plant Conservation Alliance is working with the private sector on many 
fronts.  They recently met with the seed growing industry to gauge 
successes as well as areas for improvement in the quest to increase the 
use of native plants.  See summary from the PCA-American Seed Trade 
Association Meeting in March 2007 
(http://www.nps.gov/plants/meetings/bimonthly/mar2007/index.htm).

Meanwhile, the fires rage on. 
And soils need to be stabilized.  While the preference is for natives, the 
reality is, we don't have what we need yet.  So, agencies must make do 
with species that are known "workhorses" - that will do the job of 
stabilizing the soil until the native vegetation can move back in.  Let's 
remember that not all exotics are invasive.  The BLM sets high standards 
for the seed that they purchase to be weed-free with 3rd party 
verification (See: 
http://www.nps.gov/plants/meetings/bimonthly/nov2005/index.htm).  They are 
also experimenting with revegetation projects that make the best use of 
scarce native seed resources (see: 
http://www.nps.gov/plants/meetings/bimonthly/mar2007/erickson/index.htm). 

The fact that more than 50%of the seeds purchased in 2005 were native is 
something to celebrate.
Land management agencies are large, with many different layers, and not 
always consistent when it comes to things like determining what seed are 
used.  As Scott Lambert points out, BLM didn't start seriously shifting 
toward native plants until the mid-90s.  So, to hit the 50% mark in a 
decade is HUGE.  Moreover, the following graphs demonstrate the downward 
trend of non-native seed purchases versus native seed in the BLM 
consolidated seed buy 
(http://www.nps.gov/plants/meetings/bimonthly/nov2005/pages/2005_Scott_Lambert_Page_10_jpg.htm).

And it's not just BLM and FS that are using and developing natives.
The Refuge system, managed by the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, has 
worked through the above scenario on a smaller scale - to restore the Neal 
Smith National Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa, for instance 
(http://www.tallgrass.org/prairie.html).  A lot of research has gone into 
this effort (see: http://www.tallgrass.org/Bio2004.html).  Among their 
accomplishments is the development of a burgeoning native plant industry 
that was borne out of the Refuge's need for plant material and a few 
nurseries and growers that were willing to take the challenge.

The National Park Service has been working cooperatively with NRCS 
(natural Resources Conservation Service) for over twenty years on this 
very issue.  The Department of Defense, the Department of Transportation, 
the Environmental Protection Agency - many agencies are focusing more and 
more on natives.  Until recently, we really didn't pay too much attention 
to native versus non-native work was going on.  Take a closer look and 
you'll see that there is a lot more native plant work going on than it 
seems.  Is there still work to be done - oh YES!  But, Rome wasn't built 
in a day.

-Patricia

Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority
Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group
US Fish & Wildlife Service
4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 750
Arlington, VA  22203
703-358-1708 x1753
FAX: 703-358-2276
Working for the conservation and sustainable use of our green natural 
resources.
<www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>




Craig Dremann <craig at astreet.com> 
Sent by: apwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org
05/16/2007 01:32 PM


To
apwg at lists.plantconservation.org, 
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Subject
[APWG] BLM buys > ONE MILLION lbs. exotics/year? - EXOTIC-FREE by 2011??







Dear All,

I've found a 2005 report on the web, by Scott Lambert and Peggy Olwell
from 2005, a Powerpoint presentation entitled "Seed use by the BLM" that
is cached as a text document by Google at
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:5FZbyrYML6MJ:ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/PMC/Conferences/WestPM-Mar2006/ScottLambertBLM-SeedUse.ppt+crested+RSW+BLM&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&ie=UTF-8

According to this 2005 slide show, the 10-year average for BLM's seed
buys was 2.2 million pounds, with a high of 6.6 million pounds in 1999
and the 2005 purchases were 3.6 million pounds. 

The very unfortunate part of the story, is that 41% of those seeds
purchased in 2005 were exotics, or 1,476,000 pounds, with their weed
seeds and other crop seeds.  At 1% weed or other crop, means that about
14,000 pounds of weed seeds were purchased along with those exotic
seeds.

The exotic seeds annually purchased by BLM, list hasn't changed much
over time: Crested wheatgrass, Russian ryegrass, Siberian wheatgrass,
Small Burnet, Sainfoin, Alfalfa, with minor amounts of Pubescent
wheatgrass, and Yellow sweet clover.

I CANNOT UNDERSTAND at all, the disconnect between the professional
BOTANISTS and professional ECOLOGISTS that BLM has on staff, and the
purchase of over a million pounds of exotic seeds, to sow back onto our
public lands?  It doesn't make any scientific or ecological sense?

Maybe a spokeperson from BLM can enlighten us, why all these millions of
pounds of exotic seeds were purchased by the agency, when it is known
that these exotics are damaging to the native ecosystems they were sown
into?

Shouldn't BLM start winding down the purchase of exotic seeds, say by
33% a year for the next three years, or a decrease of about 1/2 million
pounds a year, to purchase ZERO EXOTIC SEEDS by 2011?

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

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