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Pages 27-40

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From page 27...
... Table 2-5 shows the distribution of the responses by geographic area and Table 2-6 shows the distribution of the responses by the size of the business, determined based on the average annual sales and operating revenues between 2017 and 2019. As discussed, an inventory of all native seed suppliers and their characteristics does not exist, so it is not possible to determine how these breakdowns compare to the universe of vendors as a whole.
From page 28...
... While the committee was not aware of any existing data source that could provide a comprehensive picture of either the native seed supply or demand in the United States, these records provided a granular view of some segments of the supply chain and enriched the committee's understanding of a few specific market players. The main sources of existing data reviewed by the committee included consolidated seed buy records from BLM.
From page 29...
... Most of the seed purchased by BLM is through Consolidated Seed Buys which typically take place three or four times a year.1 The procurement process begins with the development of a list of seed types and amounts requested from the field offices, which is then put out for public bid. The winning bids are paid from a Working 1  Text was modified after the prepublication was released to correct number of BLM offices with seeding projects and the number of Consolidated Seed Buys annually.
From page 30...
... The purchased seed is stored temporarily in one of BLM's seed warehouses until used. Native Seed and Wildfire Wildland fire is the major driver for native seed needs for BLM, and for other federal land-management agencies, as well as for all state and tribal land in the West.
From page 31...
... . Seed Transfer Zones and Source-Identified Seed BLM does not have an agency-wide requirement that seed purchased by the field offices be native plant seed, although its Best Management Practices call for the use native seed of known origin when available (BLM, 2008)
From page 32...
... Currently, there are six suppliers holding IDIQ contracts and the award has a 5-year cap at $49 million total, significantly less than the approximately $20 million average each year spent on the Consolidated Seed Purchases. It is a significant first step toward the proactive stockpiling of native seed to meet the Bureau's needs.
From page 33...
... In 2020, the USFS Pacific Northwest Region 6, home to 17 National Forests across Oregon and Washington, experienced the worst fire season in a century. According to a Rapid Assessment Team10 report evaluating the Slater Fire in the Rogue River-Siskiyou 9 See https://iogcc.ok.gov/sites/g/files/gmc836/f/documents/2022/iogcc_idle_and_orphan_wells_2021_final_web_0.pdf (accessed February 9, 2023)
From page 34...
... was used to fight wildfires.12 In the wake of two extreme fire years, in January 2022, the USFS released Confronting the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, a 10-year plan to dramatically increase fuels removal and forest health activities on millions of forested acres, which was followed in July 2022 by the National Forest System Reforestation Strategy, a plan to address the reforestation deficit (see Box 3-1)
From page 35...
... The Service uses native seeds for conservation activities, such as developing pollinator habitat, and conducting post-wildfire restoration, and invasive species removal in the refuges. The Service frequently works in partnership with other public and private organizations to carry out its activities related to protecting habitat.
From page 36...
... The Service is adopting a Resist-Accept-Transition framework to help it chart a management course, that among other decisions, will affect its habitat restoration and TES decisions, both with implications for native plant seed and materials. USFWS Partnerships in Support of Native Seed The total amount of seed and plant materials procured across all the National Wildlife Refuges used for BAR projects or other, non-fire-related restoration projects is unknown, in part because the activities are widely distributed.
From page 37...
... Much of the Corps' work impacts federal and all other lands, and contributes to the demands on the native seed supply in ways that are significant to this report but are not specifically quantified here. The DOD has different internal authorities for the use of native seed on military installations, for example, one for remediating disturbances caused by training activities, and another for natural ecological restoration, thus, the size of projects varies greatly.
From page 38...
... The USFWS, National Parks, and military bases are focused on activities related to ecological restoration, are generally oriented toward the use of genetically appropriate native seed, and pursue their needs on a project-by-project basis. These agencies appear to have the leeway to seek native seed proactively, or at least to have a longer planning horizon for obtaining the specific native seeds needed for their projects.
From page 39...
... But for all other purposes, native seed was used. However, the committee notes that the Army Corps of Engineers, which is increasingly focusing on mitigating the impacts of climate change, stages many projects on and off federal lands that include at least a component of green infrastructure; for many of these efforts, native plant materials are required (Windhoffer et al., 2022)
From page 40...
... Topics that arose during various interviews with agency personnel, and some of their observations, can be summarized as follows: • The populations of native plant communities on land under agency control are important as a supply of seeds for future restoration needs. • There appears to be a lack of interest by some decision makers in the agencies to pursue ecological restoration relative to other priorities.


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