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Native Plant Solutions for Conservation
Problems
Mark Majerus
Susan Winslow
Joe Scianna
Abstract-The Bridger Plant Materials Center in Montana focuses
on native species selection and establishment techniques for revegetation of rangeland, mineland, and other disturbed areas of the
West. Work is carried out as a cooperative among several government and private organizations.
The Bridger Plant Materials Center (PMC) was established in 1959 by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help solve conservation problems in
Montana and Wyoming. The land and facilities are owned by
a nonprofit corporation consisting of all conservation districts in Montana and Wyoming and in turn leased to USDANRCS. Projects have focused on native species selection and
establishment techniques for revegetation of rangeland,
mineland, highly erodible sites, acid/heavy metal affected
lands, wildlife cover/food, xeriscaping, and saline-affected
soils. Research on native trees and shrubs has focused on the
identification and testing of su perior ecotypes for windbreak
and shelterbelt applications in the Great Plains. In 1986, a
cooperative agreement with the National Park Service was
initiated to assist with the identification, collection, propagation, processing, and culture of indigenous species for
revegetating roadsides. Assistance began in 1994 emphasizing the identification, propagation, and establishment of
culturally significant plants of Native American tribes. As
a service to the Montana Natural Heritage Program, germination and propagation techniques are being developed for
"threatened" Penstemon lemhiensis and to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service for seed increase of "sensitive" Gaura
neomexicana ssp. coloradensis.
Native plant species are collected from throughout
Montana and Wyoming and evaluated at the Bridger Plant
Materials Center or other appropriate remote sites. The
seed of superior accessions (collections) is increased and
then established in replicated plots. The su perior material is
increased and made available for field planting throughout
Montana and Wyoming on private and public lands. These
plantings are established under actual use situations and
compared to commercially available germplasm for a particular conservation use. Once a plant is proven superior,
seed is made available to growers for commercial prod uction
and sale. The Bridger PMC presently utilizes alternative
release mechanisms, which ensure genetic integrity, while
allowing plant materials to be released with a limited amount
of testing. These alternatives are, from least tested to most
tested: "source identified"-seed harvested from a native
stand or collected and grown under cultivation; "selected"germplasm that has genetic superiority or distinctive traits;
"tested"-material that has been through multiple years,
multiple site testing which statistically validates superior
traits' and "cultivar"-material that has had purposeful genetic ~anipulation or extensive replicated and field testing.
In: Monsen, Stephen B.; Stevens, Richard, comps. 1999. Proceedin~s:
ecology and management of pinyon-juniper communities within the InterlOr
West; 1997 September 15-18; Provo, UT. Proc. RMRS-P-9. Ogden, UT: U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research
Station.
Mark Majerus, Susan Winslow, and Joe Scianna are with ~he Brid~er
Plant Materials Center, USDA Natural Resources ConservatlOn Servlce,
Route 2, Box 1189, Bridger, MT 59014
338
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-9. 1999