For the past several years, IBG has collaborated with the Bureau of Land Management on its Native Plant Conservation Initiative Program on three separate projects in southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon.
IBG has collected native forb, grass, and shrub seed for the Idaho Bureau of Land Management Seeds of Success Program since 2010. Objectives are to collect seed from common, and several rare, species, either for long-term seed banking or for rangeland restoration. Selected species are grown at IBG for outplanting on public lands in need of restoration. Data such as GPS location, soils, site description, associated species, and population condition and assessment, are recorded at each site. A vouchered plant collection is taken, as are habitat, plant and seed photos. Since 2010, more than 80 seed collections have been made and thousands of plants have been grown. For more information on this national program, Click Here »
Similar to the work in Idaho, IBG began assisting the Vale District Office of the Bureau of Land Management in 2011. In addition to seed collection, we also grew black cottonwoods for riparian restoration. Oregon seed collections are either retained by the district office for restoration purposes or placed in a long-term seed bank. Because the Seeds of Success Program is national, protocols and procedures are the same as described above for Idaho.
MORLEY NELSON SNAKE RIVER BIRDS OF PREY NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA
Beginning in 2011, through the Bureau of Land Management’s Native Plant Conservation Initiative Program and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Legacy Grant support, IBG has collected seed and grown thousands of plants for restoration for the Great Basin Forb and Pollinator Habitat Increase Project. IBG has experimented with and grown more than a dozen native forb species as well as several shrubs and grasses. Many of them are rarely grown and have not been extensively used for restoration because their seed is difficult to obtain. All IBG-grown seedlings are planted on public lands degraded by range fires, non-native plant invasion and livestock overgrazing. Propagation data records are kept and published when possible in the Native Plant Network’s propagation protocol database http://www.nativeplantnetwork.org/