8. PERMISSION TO COLLECT

Collecting seeds on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management is categorically excluded in NEPA.  Department of the Interior (DOI) 516 Manual is the official guidance for determining the level of NEPA required.  BLM's CX list is incorporated into the DOI NEPA manual at 516 DM 6, Appendix 5, Section 5.4 (effective 5/19/92).  In the Forestry program section of the BLM Categorical Exclusion list there are five categorical exclusions.  The fifth one applies to seed collection as follows: (5) Disposal of small amounts of miscellaneous vegetation products outside established harvest areas, such as Christmas trees, wildings, floral products (ferns, boughs, etc.), cones, seeds, and personal use firewood. 

BLM may give permission to other volunteer groups to collect for the Seeds of Success program on BLM managed lands, however, when these volunteers collect for BLM, a BLM employee must sign the Notification of Transfer as part of the shipping documentation for all species collected under the cooperative agreement between BLM and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.  To comply with DOI privacy standards, individuals acting in a personal capacity may not be listed as a collector on the data form.  Team leads should be listed when no other collector names are available.

Notification of Transfer is not needed when shipping material domestically; non-BLM SOS teams working on BLM public land should still work with their local field or district office on targeting species and notify BLM that collections are taking place.

Collection may take place on private lands or lands managed by another federal agency (Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, and Department of Defense) or a state agency, with landowner permission.  Document landowner permission on the field data form associated with the seed collection.  Keep written documentation of permission to collect in your office’s files when collections are made on lands other than those managed by BLM.

Collecting is NOT permitted on National Park Service land.