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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Cairns, Cassandra F -FS
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, July 12, 2016 8:22 AM<br>
<b>Subject:</b> News Release: USDA-FS Research Stations establish scientist collaborative group for native plant conservation and restoration science<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><img width="181" height="74" id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image003.png@01D1DB9C.A100F270" alt="cid:image003.png@01D1DB9C.A100F270"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:26.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">News Release<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Media Contact:
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Cass Cairns, Public Affairs Specialist<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">(970) 498-1370 |
</span><a href="mailto:cfcairns@fs.fed.us"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">cfcairns@fs.fed.us</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Headline" style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<strong><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Collaborative science to foster native plant conservation and restoration</span></strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="75" o:preferrelative="t" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" filled="f" stroked="f">
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</v:shapetype><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2" o:spid="_x0000_s1026" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="Title: PNW field crew collecting species data at the bluebunch wheatgrass experimental site west of Othelo, WA. (Photo by Holly Prendeville, PNW Research Station)" style='position:absolute;margin-left:217.2pt;margin-top:432.7pt;width:159.8pt;height:192.2pt;z-index:251658240;visibility:visible;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-wrap-distance-left:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-top:0;mso-wrap-distance-right:9.04pt;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;mso-position-horizontal:right;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;mso-position-vertical:absolute;mso-position-vertical-relative:page;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-width-relative:margin;mso-height-relative:margin' filled="t">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width="213" height="256" src="cid:image005.jpg@01D1DC1F.2FCCE8B0" align="right" hspace="12" alt="Title: PNW field crew collecting species data at the bluebunch wheatgrass experimental site west of Othelo, WA. (Photo by Holly Prendeville, PNW Research Station)" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_2"><![endif]><strong><span style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif">FORT
COLLINS</span></strong><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">,<strong> Colo.,
</strong>July 11, 2016 – The health of ecosystems across the West is increasingly impacted by many factors including climate change and drought. This is challenging land managers with a pressing need for more science-based integrated restoration methods. To
meet that challenge, scientists from the three western U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service’s research stations – Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest and Rocky Mountain – established a collaborative group called the Western Center for Native Plant
Conservation and Restoration Science. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Center’s mission is to address – and provide science-based solutions to – ongoing challenges in the conservation and restoration of western ecosystems, including
impacts from wildland fire, invasive species, climate change and drought; increased occurrence of wildland fire in California chaparral and
</span><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_3" o:spid="_x0000_s1027" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="Title: RMRS and PNW field crews training on data collection at bluebunch wheatgrass experimental plot at Central Ferry, WA. (Photo by Holly Prendeville, PNW Research Station)" style='position:absolute;margin-left:0;margin-top:-38.15pt;width:156.2pt;height:273.6pt;z-index:251661312;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-wrap-distance-left:0;mso-wrap-distance-top:14.4pt;mso-wrap-distance-right:14.4pt;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;mso-position-horizontal:left;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;mso-position-vertical:absolute;mso-position-vertical-relative:page;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-width-relative:margin;mso-height-relative:margin' filled="t">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><![if !vml]><img width="208" height="365" src="cid:image006.jpg@01D1DC1F.2FCCE8B0" align="left" hspace="10" style="margin-left:-10px;margin-right:10px;margin-top:19px;margin-bottom:0px" alt="Title: RMRS and PNW field crews training on data collection at bluebunch wheatgrass experimental plot at Central Ferry, WA. (Photo by Holly Prendeville, PNW Research Station)" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_3"><![endif]><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Great
Basin sagebrush; and the decline of pollinators.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Center will maximize existing and future collaborations among scientists and a wide cadre of federal, state, tribal and private organizations toward the
common goal of native plant conservation, restoration and ecosystem resiliency.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Participating scientists include research plant physiologists, geneticists, ecologists, botanists and entomologists, among others. This collaborative builds
on a long legacy of six established science-management partnerships with federal and state agencies, seed and seedling producers and universities that include the
</span><a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/boise/research/shrub/greatbasin.shtml"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Great Basin Native Plant Project</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">;
</span><a href="http://www.rngr.net/"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">National Center for Reforestation, Nurseries and Genetic Resources</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">; and the
</span><a href="http://sst.forestry.oregonstate.edu/"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Seedlot Selection Tool Project</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Numerous national strategies developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Interagency partnerships and the White House, such as the
</span><a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native_Plant_Materials/documents/SeedStrategy081215.pdf"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">National Seed Strategy</span></a><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">, call for more research
on seeds, stressors and disturbances, restoration and pollinator conservation, which makes native plant science a top priority.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For more information about this collaborative group, please contact Kas Dumroese, WCNP Center director at (208) 883-2324.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;text-align:center">
<span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"># # #<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt"><i><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">NOTE: A website for the Center is currently under construction.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The research and development (R&D) arm of the Forest Service, a component of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, works at the forefront of science to improve the health
and use of our Nation's forests and grasslands. Research has been part of the Forest Service mission since the agency's inception in 1905.
<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The organization consists of seven research stations and 81 experimental forests and ranges. Forest Service R&D interacts with national forests in nine regions and with
the agency's State and Private Deputy Area throughout the United States. Forest Service R&D is also allied with agencies in the USDA Research, Education, and Economics mission area, including the Agricultural Research Service (ARS), National Institute of Food
and Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, and ARS' National Agricultural Library. Forest Service R&D also partners with other federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, universities, and the private sector.</span></i><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt">
</span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">
<hr size="2" width="100%" align="center">
</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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