An Assessment of Native Seed Needs and the Capacity for Their Supply Final Report (2023) / Chapter Skim
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This report examines the prospects for developing the large and sustainable supply of native seeds (as a shorthand term for all forms of native propagative plant material1) that is needed for many uses but primarily to carry out successful ecological restoration across our nation's landscapes.
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. This report reflects the product of phase two of the assessment, in follow-up to the committee's interim report released in October 2020.3 That report presented an overview of the native seed supply chain, BOX S-1 Statement of Task An ad hoc study committee appointed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will assess federal, state, tribal, and private-sector needs and capacity for supplying native plant seeds for ecological restoration and other purposes.
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Similarly, non-native plant seeds, that are less expensive and more available, were a sizable portion of the seed purchased. TABLE S-1 Uses of Native Seeds by Federal and State Agencies Creation or restoration of wildlife habitat (other than pollinator habitat)
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Several regional native plant materials development and restoration programs have been established by BLM and the USFS that are broadly cooperative, involving government at all levels, the tribes, colleges, nongovernmental 4 The funds will be available through the Repairing Existing Public Land by Adding Necessary Trees Act, which was included in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 5 Text was added after the prepublication release to clarify that the seed banks store the seed for the SOS program; they are not the seed suppliers that increase the seed.
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In 2015, the National Seed Strategy, a plan "to foster interagency collaboration to guide the development, availability, and use of seed needed for timely and effective restoration," was released by the Plant Conservation Alliance, which now includes more than 400 nonfederal organizations and 17 federal agencies.7 That Strategy is not a funded program, but under its umbrella many diverse projects have been pursued by different agencies and their partners. It is a sound blueprint for native seed development and continues to be a call for action.
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Conclusion 1-0: There is urgency to building a native seed supply for the restoration of native plant communities. Developing reliable seed supplies for ecological restoration is an achievable goal by the federal agencies, but one that demands accelerated, inter-institutional commitment to a comprehensive vision, at a much more intensive level than is currently under way.
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• Produce information and technology for stakeholders in the native seed supply and native plant restoration. Recommendation 2.0: Federal land-management agencies should participate in building regional programs and partnerships to promote native plant materials development and native plant restoration, helping to establish such regional programs in areas where they do not yet exist.
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Additionally, tribal leaders and land managers should be fully engaged in planning, conducting, and applying results from scientific projects related to seed production and conservation, native plant restoration, and ecosystem management on tribal land. Recommendation 4.0: The public agencies that purchase native seed should assist suppliers by taking steps to reduce uncertainty, share risk, increase the predictability of purchases, and help suppliers obtain stock material.
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In cases where native seed is collected from public lands by private suppliers for direct sale and use in restoration, land-management agencies should employ adequate personnel to issue permits and ensure responsible collection. In other cases, where seed is collected for increase and native plant materials development, the federal agencies should facilitate this activity by extending the Seeds of Success program to include all regions of the United States, and better supporting its activities.
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With more warehouses, seed can be kept near the location where it will be used, reducing transportation costs, time, and seed viability loss. Recommendation 9.0: BLM should identify and conserve locations in which native plant communities provide significant reservoirs of native seeds for restoration.
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The PCRP should expand the use of IDIQ or other innovative, risk-sharing contracts to build a diverse supply of native seed in BLM warehouses. FINAL THOUGHTS These recommendations represent an ambitious agenda for action, commensurate to the challenges facing our natural landscapes, and to the responsibility for public-sector leadership of a coordinated public-private effort to build a national native seed supply.
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