<div dir="ltr">Hello,<div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>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.</div><div><br></div><div>What I have found so far:</div><div><br clear="all"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><b>Natural Resource
Management Reference Manual #77<span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Disturbed Land Restoration – Program Guidance<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.nature.nps.gov/rm77/restore/programguide.cfm">https://www.nature.nps.gov/rm77/restore/programguide.cfm</a><span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“<span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">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.”<span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst"><span style="font-family:symbol;color:black">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">
</span></span><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">Reference
sites should match the disturbed areas to be revegetated. Further text describe
requirements to treat invasive species. <span></span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpLast"><span style="font-family:symbol;color:black">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">
</span></span><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">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.<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">NPS Management Policies 2006<span></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">Chapter 4 Natural
Resource Management<span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/policy/mp2006.pdf"><span style="background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">https://www.nps.gov/policy/mp2006.pdf</span></a><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">4.4.1.2 Genetic
Resource Management Principles (Pg. 43)<span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><br></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial">“</span>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.”<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b>An Introduction to
Using Native Plants in Restoration Projects<span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.nps.gov/plants/restore/pubs/intronatplant/intronatplant.pdf">https://www.nps.gov/plants/restore/pubs/intronatplant/intronatplant.pdf</a><br></p><div>Understanding the Importance of Genetics (Pg. 20)<br></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal">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.<span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“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.<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left:20.25pt">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">
</span>aspect<span></span></p>
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</span>associated vegetation<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left:20.25pt">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">
</span>ecoregion<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left:20.25pt">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">
</span>elevation<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left:20.25pt">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">
</span>frost dates<span></span></p>
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</span>hydrology<span></span></p>
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</span>rainfall<span></span></p>
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</span>slope<span></span></p>
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</span>soil type<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left:20.25pt">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">
</span>temperature patterns<span></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left:20.25pt">·<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"times new roman"">
</span>watershed”<span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p><br><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span> </span></span></p></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><font color="#000000" size="2" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">David Campbell</font></div><font color="#000000" size="2" face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Biologist</font><div><font color="#000000" face="georgia, serif"><br></font></div><div><font color="#000000" face="georgia, serif">Vegetation and Ecological Restoration<br>Division of Resources Management and Science<br>Yosemite National Park<br>P.O. Box 700<br>El Portal, CA 95318<br></font></div><font face="georgia, serif"><font color="#000000">(209) 379-3298</font><br></font><div><font color="#000000"><a href="http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/plants.htm" target="_blank"><font face="georgia, serif">http://www.nps.gov/yose/naturescience/plants.htm</font></a><br></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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