National Native Plant Materials
Development Program: Ensuring
Options in a Changing Climate
Peggy Olwell
Plant Conservation Program Lead
Bureau of Land Management
7th SER European Conference on Ecological Restoration
Avignon, France
August 26, 2010
National Native Plant Materials
Development Program
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History of the Program
Need for the Program
Funding
Leveraging Investment
Native Plant Materials Development
Process
• Accomplishments
Federal Government Agency Land Holdings
Comparable Country Sizes
Agency
Area (km2)
Comparable Country
DOD
80,936
NPS
339,929
Finland
FWS
376,350
Japan
FS
781,043
Turkey
BLM
991,479
Egypt
TOTAL FEDERAL LAND
Czech Republic
Argentina
Federal Government Managed Lands
in the U.S.
Bureau of Land Management
991,479 km2
Level III Ecoregions of Western U.S.
and BLM Management Areas
According to the models, flowering of Sonoran Desert
shrubs might have advanced by 20–41 days from 1894 to
2004 (Bowers 2007).
Change in flowering effects migratory hummingbirds and
population dynamics of shrubs.
National Native Plant Materials
Development Program
House of Representatives’ FY2001 Conference Report
• Directs “…the agencies to develop a long-term program to manage and
supply native plant materials for various Federal land management
restoration and rehabilitation needs.
• Recommends “… the interagency Plant Conservation Alliance lead this
effort.”
1,000,000
500,000
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2,000,000
2001
1,318,400
1,484,295
157,350
470,070
530,000
970,000
4,486,650
3,020,000
4,045,000
2,920,000
2,396,000
1,890,000
1,535,000
972,235
1,053,255
660,055
674,500
2,500,000
1,803,750
2,521,395
3,500,000
2000
3,000,000
2,089,245
4,000,000
493,550
534,650
230,400
169,590
1998
4,500,000
1999
238,450
135,330
0
1997
701,650
327,670
1,500,000
1996
Pounds of Seed
Demand for Native Plant Materials
BLM Consolidated Seed Buys
Non-Native Seed
Native Seed
Demand for Native Plant Materials
Native
Habit
Species
Non-Native
Cost/Pound
Species
Cost/Pound
Grasses Hesperostipa
comata
(needle and
thread grass)
$35.00
Agropyron
cristatum
(crested
wheatgrass)
$1.19
Forbs
Lupinus sericeus
(silky lupine)
$90.00
Sanguisorba
minor (small
burnet)
$2.01
Shrubs
Artemisia nova
(black sagebrush)
$25.00
Bassia prostrata
(forage kochia)
$8.00
Native Plant Materials Development
Process
National Native Plant Materials
Development Program
Annual Funding
FY2001 - $5.3 m
FY2006 - $4.4 m
FY2002 - $4.7 m
FY2007 - $4.6 m
FY2003 - $2.3 m
FY2008 - $4.6 m
FY2004 - $4.6 m
FY2009 - $5.8 m
FY2005 - $4.6 m
FY2010 - $7.6 m
2001-2010 Total : $48.5 million
National Native Plant Materials
Development Program
Leveraged Funds (2001-2007)
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Chicago Botanic Garden
Native Seed Network
Center for Plant Conservation
Uncompahgre Plateau Project
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
PCA/NFWF Grant Program
Great Basin NPSIP (20+ partners)
Pacific Northwest (OR/WA)
$2.3m
$2.1m
$1.7m
$1.5m
$1.4m
$0.8m
$1.3m
$3.0m
$1.5m
$15 million
Partners on Native Plant Materials
(over 500)
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Tribal Entities
Research Institutions
Industry
Federal Govt.
State Govt.
Local Govt.
Non-Profit Organizations
Botanic Gardens
(including international)
22
83
118
199
20
24
95
24
Ecoregional Native Plant Programs
• Great Basin Native Plant Selection &
Increase Program
• Colorado Plateau Native Seed Program
• Oregon & Washington Native Plant Program
• California Native Plant Program
• Mojave Desert Restoration Initiative
• Sonoran & Chihuahuan Deserts
Native Plant Materials Development Process
Native Seed Collection
SOS National Collection
Yearly Seed Collections
1,474 1,504
1,600
1,400
1,235
1,200
1,208
1,012
1,044 1,058
1,000
685
800
600
447
400
200
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Seeds of Success
Seeds of Success
Working Collection
Common
Garden Studies
Developing
Germination Protocols
Accomplishments
• Provided foundation seed for 193 species
to private growers.
• Made 122 native species commercially
available.
• Made over 10,000 native seed collections
• Evaluated >3,327 taxa of forbs, grasses &
shrubs.
• Coordinated ~100 seed collecting teams.
Accomplishments
• Support the Intertribal Nursery Council to
ensure Native American participation.
• Developed 4 training courses (seed
collecting, seed processing, selecting
native plants, and electronic field notes),
held 40 sessions and trained over 2,000
people.
• Maintain the Seeds of Success website
(www.nps.gov/plants/sos).
National Native Plant Materials
Development Program
www.nativeseednetwork.org
Climate Change
Globally, plant species are migrating towards the poles at
an average of 6 meters per decade
(Parmesan and Yohe, 2003. Nature 421, 37-42)
Present
2030
Collecting & Restoration Site
2090
R. Johnson & B. St. Clair
USFS