[SOS-PCA] December 2025 Collector Call notes and end of season wrap up

[Hill, Sarah E]

Hello everyone,

I am immensely grateful to be working with all of you, and for your patience and flexibility as we have navigated this year. I hope you all have a great December and a happy new year. When I think about the 2025 season and what we might face in 2026, I like to think about the seeds laying in the ground living their quiet lives waiting for the right conditions to spring into action. I hope you too have some quiet time to chill during the off season and then emerge strong and resilient when the time is right.

Below are the notes from our last collector call of 2025, I look forward to seeing some of you in 2026 and am very appreciative of all you accomplished in 2025!

For the seeds,

Sarah



______________________________________



Today is the last collector call of 2025! Will resume in February 2025, still on the first Tuesday of every month.

Onboarding 2026 collection season

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We will send out instructions to the 2025 collector call participant list on how to onboard in 2026, keep an eye out for that. You will not be added to next year's GeoPlatform, collector call, or email lists unless you complete the registration.

End of season wrap up – December 15th is the magic day!

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All data QC done
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Photos, permits, annual report all due to your agency coordinator (Sarah, Katie, Kelly).
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All seeds should be shipped by Dec 15th
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Seed tracking forms filled out when you ship
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Refer to end of season checklist - https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2025-04/End_of_Season_Checklist_2025.pdf

Shipping vouchers

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Smithsonian – please refrain from shipping vouchers until after the new year (Jan 5th)
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Refer to the Guide to shipping herbarium speciments for info on how to pack and ship herbarium specimens.
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https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2021-10/Guide%20to%20Herbarium%20Specimens%20for%20SOS.pdf



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OSU herbarium – no longer accepting SOS specimens, if you were planning on using them for a regional herbaria, do not send them and contact your Agency coordinator for an alternative.


Clearance forms – ASAP once seeds are shipped

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If you will be requesting collections back, please fill out a clearance form ASAP. If you are requesting stuff back from Bend and need it before March 1, talk to Sarah ASAP. Space very limited for early spring requests, still have slots for collections requested in April and May. All other cleaning facilities have more room for early season requests.

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If you are in AK, contact Ann directly for seed returns.


GeoPlatform will be decommissioned from January 19 through February 2nd.

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All GPLAT is going to go down for annual maintenance and switch over the new season Jan 19th and will be back up by Feb 2nd.
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If you are going to be doing 2026 season after Dec 15th and are collecting before the 2026 forms are finalized, you can continue to collect on the 2025 forms. If you are collecting while things are shut down between Jan 19 and Feb 2, you will need to use paper. Your agency coordinator should know if you will be collecting from Dec 15 to Feb 2nd during the transition between collection seasons.

We want your feedback!

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Training: https://forms.office.com/g/KGZy9Lxm7b
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Data collection or other program feedback: https://arcg.is/0i9jei



Sarah Hill

Seeds of Success National Curator
Bureau of Land Management - Contractor


Seeds of Success<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/native-plant-and-seed-material-development/collection>

National Seed Strategy<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/national-seed-strategy>

Plant Conservation Alliance<https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/native-plant-communities/national-seed-strategy/pca>

Subscribe to the PCA and SOS listservs<http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo>

I respectfully acknowledge that I live and work on the unceded ancestral, traditional and contemporary lands of the Nuwe/Nume (Paiute, Shoshone, Bannock) people, as well as other indigenous tribes who traveled through the area known as Idaho who have stewarded this land throughout the generations.
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