[PCA] Searching for Official National Park Service Policy on Seed Collection and Native Plant Restoration

[Campbell, David]

Hello,
I am a biologist at Yosemite National Park and I am seeking out any
official policies for the Park Service regarding movement of native plant
material. We have developed guidelines for native plant material collection
for restoration within our park including: trying to best match restoration
sites to reference sites based on soils, hydrology, and native plant
assemblages. We don't move anything between major watersheds. We also
typically won't move anything more than 500'-750'  (152m-229m) up in
elevation, and won't move anything more than 500' (152m) down in elevation.

I know that the Seeds of Success program has guidelines set forth and has
been used by BLM, but I am looking for NPS specific guidance. If you know
of anything not listed below, please let me know. Thanks.

What I have found so far:

*Natural Resource Management Reference Manual #77*

Disturbed Land Restoration – Program Guidance

https://www.nature.nps.gov/rm77/restore/programguide.cfm


“In active revegetation, the collected native seed and planting stock must
be genetically appropriate and compatible with native plants in adjacent
and nearby areas. All plant material should be collected from reference
sites or areas with reference conditions that are located as near to the
project site as practicable. In addition, the collection should cover an
area at least as large as the area to be restored, in order to capture
sufficient genetic variability. Collecting should never biologically
degrade a source site.”

·         Reference sites should match the disturbed areas to be
revegetated. Further text describe requirements to treat invasive species.

·         This manual has several additional sections including a
“Vegetation Management” section, but it is not available. A note states:
“Additional sections of this guidance will be added to this web site as
they are finalized. Please check back periodically for additional
postings.” So this section probably hasn’t been completed.



*NPS Management Policies 2006*

Chapter 4 Natural Resource Management

https://www.nps.gov/policy/mp2006.pdf

4.4.1.2 Genetic Resource Management Principles (Pg. 43)


“The restoration of native plants and animals will be accomplished using
organisms taken from populations as closely related genetically and
ecologically as possible to park populations, preferably from similar
habitats in adjacent or local areas. Deviations from this general policy
may be made where the management goal is to increase the variability of the
park gene pool to mitigate past, human induced loss of genetic variability.
Actions to transplant organisms for purposes of restoring genetic
variability through gene flow between native breeding populations will be
preceded by an assessment of the genetic compatibility of the populations.”



*An Introduction to Using Native Plants in Restoration Projects*

https://www.nps.gov/plants/restore/pubs/intronatplant/intronatplant.pdf
Understanding the Importance of Genetics (Pg. 20)


This document was prepared for the Plant Conservation Alliance and the
Bureau of Land Management, but it is linked to from National Park Service
sites. It isn’t official NPS policy… it appears that this document informs
the Seeds of Success Program, which is the official BLM program.


“Depending on the genetics, there may be very different strategies for the
appropriate places to collect propagation material for specific species. A
general rule to follow is, if information is not available on the plant
species’ genetic variation, try to use plant material of local genetic
source whenever possible. There is no universal agreement as yet on the
exact guidelines for “local” sources. However, selecting a plant material
source where the following factors are the same or similar to the site can
serve as a general rule of thumb.

·          aspect

·          associated vegetation

·          ecoregion

·          elevation

·          frost dates

·          hydrology

·          rainfall

·          slope

·          soil type

·          temperature patterns

·          watershed”




-- 
David Campbell
Biologist

Vegetation and Ecological Restoration
Division of Resources Management and Science
Yosemite National Park
P.O. Box 700
El Portal, CA  95318
(209) 379-3298
http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/plants.htm
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