Seeds of Success helps post-fire at Lava Beds National Monument

American Conservation Experience (ACE) crewmember, Anna Hoskins helps restore grasslands at Lava Beds National Monument.

Riley Turner, American Conservation Experience

The 2020 Caldwell Fire and 2021 Antelope Fire burned large areas Lava Beds National Monument with high severity, eliminating shrubs and grass to bare soil and at the same killing many large trees.

Annual invasive cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) thrives after wildfire, and in many areas outcompetes native species. In some locations, cheatgrass cover has continued to increase even multiple years after a wildfire, from an average of 15% coverage pre-fire to almost 70% two years post-fire.

Cheatgrass adds fuel to the otherwise patchy native vegetation, filling in gaps between dominant sagebrush and native bunchgrasses. As a result, cheatgrass changes how fire interacts on the land, or the fire regime, by increasing intensity, frequency, and size of fires across landscapes. It becomes self-serving - more cheatgrass leads to larger fires, which then creates more cheatgrass and larger fires.

American Conservation Experience (ACE) crewmember, Shannon Matthews carries bluebunch wheatgrass plugs to be planted to help restore grasslands at Lava Beds National Monument.

Riley Turner, American Conservation Experience

Sagebrush and many other native shrubs and grasses are not adapted for frequent and intense fire, so these important species suffer in the face of a changing climate and cheatgrass-altered fire regime. Many land managers within the sagebrush plant community are witnessing a similar increase in vegetation type conversion to invasive plant species post-fire, which is most likely caused by the increased fire return intervals and rapid climate change.

In 2023, Seeds of Success interns collected and processed hundreds of thousands of native plant seeds from over a dozen species while stationed at Lava Beds National Monument. These seeds are adapted to the area’s specific microclimate and makes them ideal to use in post-fire restoration efforts.

ACE crew plants native Blue Bunch Wheatgrass to restore park habitat that was affected by fire. These efforts are done alongside researchers to gather data for future restoration efforts.

Riley Turner, American Conservation Experience

Eventually those seeds became plants and in 2024, 4,000 of them were planted at three restoration sites by a visiting American Conservation Experience (ACE) crew. Three more sites will be planted in fiscal year 2025. These sites are part of a multi-year study to determine the best way to help our native plants thrive and reproduce amidst the sea of cheatgrass and provide better fire resiliency on the landscape.

The overarching goal of this project is to invest in the collection and production of native plant species so that appropriate plant materials are readily available for post-fire rehabilitation and recovery. Availability of these plant materials is necessary to quickly establish native plant species and reverse the dominance of cheatgrass. Over time, that native plants are expected to outcompete the invasive plant species so that the vegetation type conversion can be averted, and the native plant community of Lava Beds National Monument preserved.