Written By
Seeds of Success, is a national native seed collection program established in 2001 in partnership with a variety of federal agencies and non-federal organizations designed to collect wildland native seed for research, development, germplasm conservation, and ecosystem restoration. The program, led by the Bureau of Land Management, has been collecting native seed for more than a decade as part of a nationwide effort to identify, grow and store a bank of America’s native plants for research and restoration.
In 2018, the Nevada BLM partnered their resources with botanists and ecologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and Nevada state agencies such as the Departments of Wildlife and Agriculture and the Nevada Division of Forestry, to hire teams to start seeking and collecting genetically-diverse, Great Basin native plants on a larger scale.
Across the nation, 38 teams collected seed in 2018, and the Reno team led the pack, collecting the second highest average number of pure live seeds in their first season (approximately 390,844 seeds) when compared to other teams. The Reno Seeds of Success team also came in third in collection capacity, with over 75% of collections being large enough to send directly to growers for restoration. Sarah and the Reno office are again mentoring a Seeds of Success team and can't wait to see how seed collection in 2019 compares to their rookie year! The Reno Office has participated in the Seeds of Success program for the past two years and plans to continue contributing to the national seed collection program.
By Joanna Gilkeson, Reno Fish and Wildlife Office
