[PCA] NEWS: BLM plants 'Seeds of Success'

[Robert Dana]

Will someone please clarify how wildfire in sagebrush steppe kills all the native perennial vegetation? This vegetation must be quite unlike that in the prairie farther east, where the plants are well adapted to fire and are stimulated by it. Was fire not a regular occurrence in this system and so the plants are poorly adapted to survive it? Or is it that cheatgrass-supported fires are more intense than anything that occurred prior to its invasion? Do these fires occur at a different time than pre-invasion fires would have, at a time when the natives are more vulnerable? Is it possible that the idea that burned areas need reseeding is just tradition that hasn't really been investigated? I remember years ago after we had completed a prescribed burn of a prairie preserve explaining to a local farmer who had driven some ways to our smoke to help put out the fire that we had burned the prairie intentionally to maintain it. He squinted at me suspiciously then asked in a  tone suggesting he was tolerating fools, "Where are you going to get the seed to replant it?" 

Robert Dana
MN DNR

>>> "Harper-Lore, Bonnie" <Bonnie.Harper-Lore at fhwa.dot.gov> 9/4/07 9:23 AM >>>
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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