[PCA] PCA General Meeting Summary – March 10, 2021

Park, Margaret E margaret_park at fws.gov
Tue Apr 6 11:50:28 CDT 2021 

Apologies for cross-posting


PCA General Meeting Summary – March 10, 2021



The meeting was hosted virtually via Microsoft Teams and was chaired by the Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) Federal Committee Chair, Patricia De Angelis/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).



Introductions were made. We welcomed a large number of online participants for this meeting.



Featured speaker: Dr. Thomas R. Easley, Assistant Dean of Community and Inclusion at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, spoke about Relationships, History, Hip-Hop, and Forestry. Easley provided an overview of how he uses hip-hop as a vehicle to discuss diversity in forestry, monitoring, and education, providing specific examples. Dr. Easley has spent most of his career as a diversity professional and a forester. As a diversity professional he has focused on the recruitment, retention, and diverse talent in natural resource disciplines. As a forester he has worked with landowners and citizens on land management and stewardship. Now as the Assistant Dean of Community and Inclusion at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, he combines his professions along with his passions of art and ministry to lead the diversity efforts in the school. See the PowerPoint and recording of the presentation. The presentation, recording,  and contact information are available on the PCA meetings page<http://www.plantconservationalliance.org/meetings>.

Updates on PCA Activities



Nonfederal Cooperators Committee (NFCC) Updates / Dr. Kay Havens (Chair)

  *   PCA Cooperators<https://www.plantconservationalliance.org/cooperators>: We now have more than 400 nonfederal Cooperators (403 to be exact!), which include state agencies and private organizations interested in U.S. native plant conservation. Cooperators also receive regular communications that allow them to participate in PCA general meetings and working groups, as well as Non-Federal Cooperator Committee outreach and education efforts to raise awareness about the importance of native plant conservation.
     *   Some of our newest cooperators include the Tudor Place Historic House and Garden<https://tudorplace.org/>, Natural Communities Coalition<https://occonservation.org/>, Florida Natural Areas Inventory,<https://www.fnai.org/> California Institute for Biodiversity<https://www.calalive.org/>.
  *   Welcome our new NFCC Vice-Chair, Dr. Anne Frances, Lead Botanist for NatureServe<https://www.natureserve.org/>. View her bio here<https://www.natureserve.org/about-us/whos-who/key-contacts/anne-frances-phd-lead-botanist>.
  *   Subnational PCAs: We have two projects related to state-, regional-, and taxon-based PCAs:
     *   We are working with a small number of sub-national and taxon-based conservation alliances to inform our nationwide progress under the National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration (see below) in a report to be released by PCA this summer.
     *   We are compiling information on all known U.S.-based state-, regional-, and taxon-based Plant Conservation Alliances and Native Plant Conservation Initiatives to improve mutual awareness and create connections among the national and subnational . We’re aiming to complete this project in the spring, and we hope to develop a webpage to emphasize the subnational PCAs later this year.



Federal Committee Updates / Dr. Patricia De Angelis (Chair)

Welcome our new PCA liaison to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Dr. Andrés F. Cibils! View his bio here<https://nifa.usda.gov/staff-contact/andres-cibils>.


National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration<https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/docs/2020-12/NationalSeedStrategy_2015-2020.pdf> Updates

  *   National Assessment: The Seed Strategy calls for a national assessment of seed needs and capacity to fulfill those needs across all sectors (federal, state, tribal, private sector). The National Academies of Sciences has started the second phase of their study to An Assessment of the Need for Native Seeds and the Capacity for Their Supply<https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/an-assessment-of-native-seed-needs-and-capacities>, which to gather information that will assist organizations and agencies to identify steps to improve the number and diversity of commercially available native plant species to use in restoration. The study should be completed by August 2021 . The committee is seeking public comments related to challenges and potential solutions for improving our native seed supply. Please see the website<https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/9a0d6419b9b9477b83fbc46167fc779e> for details.

o   Public meeting 4: Feb. 22; an informal discussion with representatives from The Nature Conservancy (TNC): https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/02-22-2021/an-assessment-of-native-seed-needs-and-capacities-meeting-4

o   Public Meeting 5: Mar. 8; Experts from the USDA Farm Production and Conservation mission, the USDA Economic Research Service, and the Tallgrass Prairie Center of the University of Northern Iowa explained what drives demand in these sectors, how it is evolving, and whether supply is meeting demand. Presenters discussed what is known about the scale at which native seeds are being used, the specific uses and characteristics of native seeds being requested, and steps that can be taken to better understand and assist suppliers in meeting public and private needs for native seed: https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/03-08-2021/an-assessment-of-native-seed-needs-and-capacities-meeting-5

o   Public meeting 6: March 16; explores the perspective of a USDA Plant Materials Specialist on considerations that shape her recommendations for seed mixes for conservation programs in Montana . A Montana seedsman will join the discussion to share insights on factors affecting native seed price and availability for different uses. https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/03-16-2021/an-assessment-of-native-seed-needs-and-capacities-meeting-6

o   Public meeting 7 scheduled for March 31 from 1-2:30 ET: https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/03-31-2021/an-assessment-of-native-seed-needs-and-capacities-meeting-7

  *   Progress Report: USGS is leading development of a progress report covering 2015-2020; A brief overview of progress is available here<https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/docs/2021-02/NSS%20Progress%202020%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf> and a full report is expected in the spring.

  *   Federal Implementation Working Group (FIWG) (Co-Chair, Lara Kobalt/BLM)
     *   The FIWG is an interagency team of the Plant Conservation Alliance that is facilitating federal implementation of the Seed Strategy across federal agencies. They have been making progress establishing subgroups on Assessment, Decision Tools, Research, Communications/Outreach, and Funding. Subgroups have started focusing on specific tasks, such as exploring prospects to develop a white paper on post-fire restoration.

  *   Next meeting will be April 22, from 4-5pm; open only to federal agencies


Native Plants Roundtable

  *   United Nations has declared 2021-2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Official launch is in June.
  *   Beware! Poachers are using iNaturalist to mine locality data to find rare species (recent incidents occurred in South Africa but could happen anywhere). Involves information from conservation assessments where locality data is made available in the process of assessing the status of the species. Some scientists and conservation agencies are working with iNaturalist to identify species for which locality data should not be made publicly available.



Upcoming Native Plant Events

  *   SER2021<http://www.ser2021.org/>: A New Global Trajectory: Catalyzing Change Through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (June 21-24, 2021)
  *   US National Seed Strategy: First 5 years and what the future holds
     *   Goal 1: Assessment:  Kayri Havens, Chicago Botanic Garden
     *   Goal 2: Seed Research: Lesley DeFalco, U.S. Geological Survey
     *   Goal 3: Decision Tools for Managers: Vicky Erickson, USDA Forest Service
     *   Goal 4: Communications: Patricia De Angelis, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
     *   Case Study: Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank: Ed Toth, New York City Parks & Recreation
     *   Future: Moving Forward: Peggy Olwell, Bureau of Land Management

  *   The True Green Infrastructure: Model to Develop Native Plant Materials from Wildland Seed to Restoration: Globally, our ability to restore resilient ecosystems depends on national programs that develop commercially available, locally adapted native plant materials/seed; this symposium will explore the program as a model for others and discuss the need to expand efforts and partners to meet the significantly increasing demand for restoring resilient ecosystems.
     *   Seeds of Success: A Conservation and Restoration Investment in the Future of US Lands: Sarah Barga, USDA Forest Service
     *   Restoration Plant Material Development in the Great Basin Region of the United States– A History and Comparison of Research and Approaches: Francis Kilkenny, USDA Forest Service
     *   Ecological versus agricultural paradigms in native seed production: Jerry Benson, BFI, Native Seed Inc.
     *   Native Seed Production Tools to Procure, Increase and Distribute Source Identified Seed via Seed Transfer Zones at an Ecoregional Scale in the Western, U.S.: Anne Halford, Bureau of Land Management
     *   Resiliency and Regulation: Creative Native Plant Revegetation: Lynda Moore, USDA Forest Service
     *   Metrics for Seeding Success Revealed from Intensive Monitoring of the 2015 Soda Megafire: Matt Germino, US Geological Survey
  *   Molly McCormick is submitting a poster on the National Seed Strategy Progress Report and is also leading the submission of an article on the Native Plants Development Process.
  *   The PCA will have an exhibit booth and we are excited to develop outreach material for that.



PCA Resources

PCA Nonfederal Cooperators website<http://www.plantconservationalliance.org/cooperators>: To join as a non-federal cooperator, go here<http://www.plantconservationalliance.org/join-us>. You can see the meetings page here<http://www.plantconservationalliance.org/meetings>.

PCA Federal Committee Website<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/national-seed-strategy/pca>: Read about the National Seed Strategy<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/national-seed-strategy/pca> and the current MOU<https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/PCA%20MOU%202019.pdf>.

PCADiscussion Lists<https://www.blm.gov/site-page/pca-discussion-lists-0>: The PCA has several national discussion lists focused on different topics that are free to join and open to all: native plants, medicinal plants, alien plants, and restoration working group. Consider joining each list you are interested, because we generally do not cross-post information. – learn more and subscribe here<https://www.blm.gov/site-page/pca-discussion-lists-0>.



Follow us on Social Media!

  *   PCA Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/PlantConservationAlliance> page
     *   #BotanicMonday: Our weekly series on Botanic Gardens and Arboreta
     *   #GoodNewsTues: We’re starting a new series on Tuesdays where we post about good news in plant conservation.
     *   #WildflowerWednesday: Our weekly series on wildflower identification and facts
     *   #FloraFriday: Our weekly Friday series on all things flowers.
     *   #PlantID, #PlantFacts, #SeedNeeds, #SeedsofSuccess, #EcologicalRestoration, #NationalSeedStrategy, #NativeSeedStandards, #RestorationEcology, #NativePlants, #BotanicalGarden, #Arboretum, #NativeSeed
  *   Follow us on Twitter<https://twitter.com/natseedstrategy>
     *   #SeedNeeds<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SeedNeeds%20(from%3Anatseedstrategy)&src=typed_query>, #SeedsofSuccess<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SeedsofSuccess%20(from%3Anatseedstrategy)&src=typed_query>, #EcologicalRestoration<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23EcologicalRestoration%20(from%3Anatseedstrategy)&src=typed_query>, #NationalSeedStrategy<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NationalSeedStrategy%20(from%3Anatseedstrategy)&src=typed_query>, #NativeSeedStandards<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23nativeseedstandards%20(from%3Anatseedstrategy)&src=typeahead_click>, #RestorationEcology<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23restorationecology%20(from%3Anatseedstrategy)&src=typed_query>, #NativePlants<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23nativeplants%20(from%3Anatseedstrategy)&src=typed_query>, #NativeSeed<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23nativeseed%20(from%3Anatseedstrategy)&src=typed_query>



Next Plant Conservation Alliance Meeting: May 12, 2021, with Dr. Brian Irish, Geneticist and Dr. Stephanie Greene, Supervisory Plant Physiologist, USDA Agricultural Research Service on " ARS role in native plant germplasm conservation.” Details will be shared via the PCA Discussion Lists<https://www.blm.gov/site-page/pca-discussion-lists-0> and PCA meetings page<http://www.plantconservationalliance.org/meetings>.



Meanwhile, please share your native plant information! We encourage PCA listserv members to post meetings, webinars, and research on the discussion lists as we continue our collaborative mission to protect native plants by ensuring that native plant populations and their communities are maintained, enhanced, and restored.

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