[PCA] ARTICLE: To regrow forests, the U.S. needs billions of seeds – and many more ‘seed hunters’

[Park, Margaret E]

Apologies for cross-posting

Kyla Mandel,  National Geographic, December 2, 2021

Summary:
Across the western United States, the seeds are in high demand. Over the next 20 years, the U.S. aims to plant billions more trees in order to restore millions of acres of scorched forest and help offset planet-warming carbon emissions. In the West alone, some 10 million acres of recently burned land are waiting to be replanted. In the past few decades, however, the number of skilled seed collectors in the U.S. has been dwindling, though it’s not clear by how much, since the work is seasonal; it’s also grueling, for not much pay. Fewer collectors means fewer seeds, and ultimately, trees.

As drought and fires intensify due to worsening climate change, the backlog of land to be reforested is increasing at an unsustainable rate, experts say.

The nation’s ambitious tree-planting goals aren’t achievable, says Aghai, “unless we start thinking in a really big way about seed.”

Link to article: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/to-regrow-forests-us-needs-billions-of-seeds-many-more-seed-hunters
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