[PCA] NEWS: BLM plants 'Seeds of Success' - Using native plants for restoration

Thu Sep 6 15:42:07 CDT 2007

In the talk Patricia refers to below, I gave an overview of current Forest
Service policies and practices as they relate to post-fire rehab treatments
(BAER, Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation) in the Pacific Northwest.  The
main points of the talk included:

1) Given dramatic increases in recent years in the frequency, size, and
intensity of wildfires (see http://www.nifc.gov/fire_info/fire_stats.htm),
more focused mitigation treatments are required.  The highest priority
areas include those most vulnerable to erosion and flooding, exotic plant
invasions, and the loss of cultural resources and wildlife/fish habitat.

2) Fortunately, very powerful tools are now available to help detect and
treat these high risk areas, including satellite imagery, computerized weed
inventories, and GIS navigation technology.  The case study I described was
the 2005 School Fire in NE Oregon, where the above tools were used to very
precisely map and treat areas of high burn severity and/or at high risk of
weed invasion.  Only 1759 acres out of ~21000 USFS acres burned (8%) were
determined to require treatment.

3) Forest Service policy (BAER Manual FSM 2523, 2004) requires the use of
genetically local sources of native species in post-fire seedings when
practical.  Thus, seedbanks must be established in advance of fire
disturbances to ensure that appropriate plant materials are available when
needed.  In the case of the School Fire, the Forest had a long history in
developing local seed sources through contracts with private seed producers
in eastern Oregon.  As a result, nearly 20,000 pounds of native seed was
available to treat the entire prescribed acreage in the School Fire.
(Note: a similar sized fire occurred in the same area the following year,
and again BAER treatments were accomplished entirely with local native
seed.  Ditto for several smaller fires in 2007).

4) Alternative method and products beyond seeding may also be effective at
achieving BAER objectives.  These include hydromulch, grain straw and wood
straw products.  These treatments were applied on the School Fire in
conjunction with seeding, and are being monitored here and elsewhere by Dr.
Peter Robichaud, a researcher at the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Moscow ID.  If these or other alternative treatments can be used
successfully, it could greatly reduce the use of undesirable species and
seed sources on fire areas.

Vicky J. Erickson
Geneticist/Native Plant Program Manager
Pacific Northwest Region, R-6
U.S. Forest Service
Phone: 541-278-3715; cell: 541-969-7684
email: verickson at fs.fed.us

             Patricia De                                                   
             Angelis/ARL/R9/FW                                             
             S/DOI at FWS                                                  To 
                                       native-plants at lists.plantconservati 
             09/04/2007 09:50          on.org                              
             AM                                                         cc 
                                       Vicky Erickson/R6/USDAFS at FSNOTES    
                                                                   Subject 
                                       Re: [PCA] NEWS: BLM plants 'Seeds   
                                       of Success' - Using native plants   
                                       for restoration(Document link:      
                                       Vicky Erickson)                     

Bonnie and Tony make good points: 1) There isn't enough to go around and 2)
Maybe there's an alternative to full re-seeding (even in cases where the
seed banks get destroyed by fire).

The Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) held a workshop with the American
Seed Trade Association in March 2007, which provided an excellent synthesis
of the types of research and questions that are being looked at across PCA
member agencies when it comes to using native plants in restoration work.
The problem of not having sufficient seed to restore the large amounts of
land was variously addressed by each of the presenters.  The agenda and
presentations are available at:
http://www.nps.gov/plants/meetings/bimonthly/mar2007/index.htm

I was particularly excited about Vicky Erickson's presentation (
http://www.nps.gov/plants/meetings/bimonthly/mar2007/erickson/index.htm),
which discussed new planting methodologies to make best use of the limited
resources.   Unfortunately, the presentation on the web does not include
some of the information that she provided in her oral presentation (and my
notes are on my home computer).

So, I will cc: Vicky here to see if she could recap a bit about that
research, including the size of the burn area, the size of the plantings,
the amount of seed used, and the outcome of that work.

-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>

             "Harper-Lore,                                                 
             Bonnie"                                                       
             <Bonnie.Harper-Lo                                          To 
             re at fhwa.dot.gov>          "Addsum-Tony Frates"                
             Sent by:                  <afrates at addsuminc.com>,            
             native-plants-bou         <native-plants at lists.plantconservat 
             nces at lists.plantc         ion.org>                            
             onservation.org                                            cc 

                                                                   Subject 
             09/04/2007 10:23          Re: [PCA] NEWS: BLM plants 'Seeds   
             AM                        of Success'                         

Roger is likely correct.
I think we need to stop wasting precious native seed on burned areas,
and put down a weed free mulch or annual grass at most as a cover crop.
The seed bank will recover with some protection.  This would save
taxpayer dollars, save valuable native seed, and most likely get just a
good of a revegetation result after a fire.

Bonnie
Restoration Ecologist
Wetlands and Ecosystems Team
FHWA USDOT, HEPN-30
1200 New Jersey Ave. SE
Washington D.C. 20590
(651) 291-6104

-----Original Message-----
From: native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org
[mailto:native-plants-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of
Addsum-Tony Frates
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2007 4:21 PM
To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: Re: [PCA] NEWS: BLM plants 'Seeds of Success'

Olivia - thank you for the post.  If this quote is true from the other
article you also just posted:

 "Roger Banner, a range specialist at Utah State University in Logan,
says native plants can't reclaim burned range on their own. "There's not
enough native plant seed to re-seed 2% of the areas that burned,"
he says."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2007-08-29-cheatgrass_N.
htm

then the importance and need for programs like "Seeds of Success"
seems to be stunningly understated and unappreciated (and I suspect
poorly funded).   Will it even scratch the surface of the problem?
The program seems to fall far short of what is needed.

Tony Frates

Date sent:               Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:29:37 -0500 (CDT)
From:                    Olivia Kwong <plant at plantconservation.org>
To:                      native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org,
sos at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject:                 [PCA] NEWS: BLM plants 'Seeds of Success'

> http://www.elynews.com/articles/2007/08/29/news/news11.txt
>
> BLM plants 'Seeds of Success'
> The Ely Times
>
> In its ongoing effort to improve the health and productivity of the
> public lands, including those recently affected by wildfire, the
> Bureau of Land Management has initiated a native seed collection
> effort that is part of an interagency "Seeds of Success" program.
>
> See the link above for the full article text.
>
>
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