BLM New Mexico: Native Plant Conservation and Wildlife Preservation Grant

In 2016 The National Seed Strategy was released. The strategy addresses issues restoring native plant communities on a landscape scale. Land managers must often replant large acreages quickly to avoid severe erosion or colonization by nonnative invasive plants. Adding to the challenges are the expense and difficulty of obtaining and delivering adequate quantities of appropriate seed to meet the need, which is often difficult to predict. This seed must be available for use at the right time and in the right place. The goals of the Strategy are:

1) Identify seed needs, and ensure the reliable availability of genetically appropriate seed,
2) Identify research needs and conduct research to provide genetically appropriate seed and to improve technology for native seed production and ecosystem restoration,
3) Develop tools that enable managers to make timely, informed seeding decisions for ecological restoration, and
4) Develop strategies for internal and external communication.

To achieve these goals, BLM needs a partnership in everything from seed collection to seed production to be successful in all four goals. Additionally, there has been an alarming loss of pollinators which affects the sustainability of food production and supply. This project would support collecting plants that support pollinator communities as well as engaging in pollinator restoration activies and monitoring for both resources.

Before the National Seed Strategy, the BLM and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kewâ¿¿s Millennium Seed Bank originally participated in the Seeds of Success (SOS) program under terms of a cooperative agreement signed by both parties in 2000. Procedures for SOS are now a part of BLMâ¿¿s national Native Plant Materials Development Program. The purpose of SOS program in the United States is to establish a national, high quality, accurately identified and well documented native plant species seed collection. The national collection acts as a basis for off-site conservation and, where and when appropriate, can be used for study and multiplication in the native materials development program.

Projects associated with this agreement include resources issues in biology, botany, ecology, soil science, wildlife biology, population biology, plant genetics, assessment of threatened or endangered species and habitats, Seeds of Success program, native plant materials development program, pollinator restoration, and monitoring of rare plants and pollinators.