Project Profile: Produce Seed for Intermountain Sagebrush Systems

Surveying seedlings at East Cascades Native Plant Hub, Winter Creek Nursery.

NPS Photo

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
National Seed Strategy | FY23 $125,000

The National Park Service will build in-house capacity for four strategically located parks to scale up their collection, production, and storage of genetically appropriate native seeds with a focus on ’workhorse’ species to meet their needs as well as parks in the same ecoregions. Workhorse species are native plants that are early seral, aggressive competitors, and stabilize sites quickly. This project will directly support the National Seed Strategy and enable parks to better meet restoration goals with use of native seed. Native seed and plant production will occur in at least 18 parks in the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountains ecoregions of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming to meet planned and emergent restoration needs.

Why? Native seed is needed for ecological restoration, yet parks lack access to the native seed appropriate for their ecosystems. For example, native seeds and other plant materials are critically needed in parks with significant portions of sagebrush. These areas continue to be impacted by invasive plants, climate change, wildfires, and infrastructure projects. Without native plants, disturbed, dry, and fire-scarred areas are vulnerable to erosion and invasion by invasive plants.

What Else? This project would engage local youths through partnerships. Existing Park partners involved in seed strategy work include Southern Utah University/Southern Paiute tribal community, American Conservation Experience (ACE), Utah Conservation Corps (UCC), and Wyoming Conservation Corp (WCC).

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – Ecosystem Restoration

This project was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – Ecosystem Restoration, signed on November 15, 2021. It is a historic investment in the restoration and protection of the environment.