Native Plant Conservation Campaign News: Forest Service Reports on National Native Seed Strategy Accomplishments
August 18, 2017
In 2015 the U.S. Department of the Interior adopted an historic National Seed Strategy. The objective of the Strategy is to ensure that locally adapted, genetically appropriate native seed is available to land managers for the restoration of lands damaged by fires, storms, or other events, and for the rehabilitation of wildland ecosystems degraded by invasive species or mismanagement.
The Strategy uses local natives to support watershed restoration, ecological biodiversity and resilience, climate change adaptation, and to deliver ecosystem services and benefits to the public.
With the adoption of the Strategy the U.S. became the first nation on the planet to commit to preferential use of local natives in land management.
This month the U.S. Forest Service released a report on its implementation of the Strategy for 2016. Highlights include:
- The Forest Service collected seeds from hundreds of local populations of native plants for propagation and use in restoration and rehabilitation throughout the U.S.
- The Forest Service distributed hundreds of thousands of local native plant materials to its own projects and to other state, local and federal agencies
- Forest Service nurseries identified and propagated numerous pollinator friendly native plants
- The Forest Service worked with 80 tribes to propagate culturally significant native plant species to assist in the restoration of indigenous peoples’ lands
- The Forest Services established studies throughout the U.S. to asses the viability, resilience and uses of local native plant varieties
Read the report at the NPCC website
