Growing Native Seed for Western National Parks After Fire and Flood

A student researcher collects native plant seed at John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, Oregon. Credit: National Park Service.

When fire and floods tear through parks and other public lands, restoration specialists work to return the land to its pre-disaster state. A changing climate is making wildfires and intense storm flooding more common, so they need more native plants and seed to repair the damage — and such disasters also help invasive plants such as cheatgrass and red brome take hold fast.

With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (its ecosystem restoration programme, signed November 15, 2021), National Park Service staff in the West are working with partners to grow, collect, store and distribute the seed needed for present and future restoration — a lot of it.

The East Cascades Native Plant Hub

Near John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, in Bend, Oregon, the new East Cascades Native Plant Facility has become a hub for collecting seed and propagating sagebrush and other native plants, for restoration in parks across Northern California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, where sagebrush is an at-risk ecosystem.

• Partners. NPS project leads set it up on Oregon State University's Cascades campus, with the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs and private industry.
• Plans. OSU-Cascades is to grow it into a state-of-the-art native plant materials centre for seed collection, propagation and on-the-ground restoration — also an information clearinghouse, supporting the protection, restoration and relocation of vegetation, and training and jobs for university students and tribal youth.

Roy Zipp, superintendent of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, touring the East Cascades Native Plant Hub. Credit: National Park Service.

NPS ecologist Tom Rodhouse, a project lead who has watched fire drive rapid change in the parks, says the partners are encouraged by the collaboration and enthusiasm: everyone has felt the shortage of native plants for post-fire restoration and climate adaptation, and the investment has created momentum.

The project supports the 2015 National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration, which fosters interagency collaboration on seed for restoration, and the strategy's long-term climate adaptation and restoration goals.

Across the Rockies and the Southwest

Seed production funded by the law is also under way in Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Saguaro, Organ Pipe Cactus and Zion, building capacity to collect, produce and store seed of species for grassland, sagebrush and southwestern desert ecosystems.

• At Grand Teton, the funding has bought seed-cleaning equipment, supported the Grand Teton Conservation Corps and Great Basin Institute youth corps in planning and carrying out seed collection, and paid the Upper Colorado Environmental Plant Center to grow several high-priority restoration species in 2023.
• As a result, native seed will be produced in Colorado and in at least eight parks of the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountains ecoregions in Utah and Wyoming, greatly increasing the seed available for planned and emergency restoration. Sharing locally adapted seed across larger areas and boundaries meets Interior Department priorities and builds climate resilience.

A native seed increase field funded and used by the NPS at the Upper Colorado Environmental Plant Center. Credit: National Park Service.

Why it matters to visitors

Restoring native plants to land disturbed by disasters, construction or invasive species keeps enough food and habitat for local wildlife, NPS botanist Steven Bekedam explains; without it, wildlife would likely decline or move away, taking prime viewing opportunities with them. Visitors may also gain more chances for education, such as citizen science programmes and learning about traditional uses of plants.

Sources

• National Park Service, "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding Ensures Long-Term Success of Native Plants in Western U.S. National Parks." https://www.nps.gov/articles/bil-er-revegetation-efforts-native-seeds.htm
• Corrected: "Organ Pipe National Monument" (Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument).
• Rewritten in hubnx's own words.