F22AC02984

The National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration was deployed in 2015 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other federal agencies of the Plant Conservation Alliance to support a coordinated nationwide effort to increase the supply of native plants needed for restoration. Multi-agency and multi-institutional coordination to streamline efficiencies and amplify capacity are key for this strategy to significantly increase the pace, scale, and quality of ecosystem restoration.

Seeds of Success is the national native seed collection program, led by the Bureau of Land Management and in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well as a variety of federal agencies and non-federal organizations. Seeds of Success' mission is to collect wildland native seed for research, development, germplasm conservation, and ecosystem restoration.

The long-term conservation outcome of the Seeds for Success program is to increase the quality and quantity of native plant materials available for restoring and supporting resilient ecosystems. The Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a growing need for native seed to support habitat restorations for climate resilience, as well as threatened and endangered species at risk, management of invasive plants, and habitat enhancements on private lands.

Wildland native seed collections are the foundation for native plant materials development and are essential for restoring working landscapes and wildlife habitat after natural disasters and other damage. The purpose of this cooperative agreement is for the Northeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to work in partnership with the Native Plant Trust to develop a native seed network within New England and increase the availability of high-priority native seed for conservation.

Native Plant Trust is the only organization in New England currently positioned to serve as a regional seed hub, which is seeking to coordinate a regional native seed network framework for the interorganizational management of the region's seed resources and seed bank. Native Plant Trust has a mission calling for seed-grown native plants, a desire to expand seed availability, room for expansion of Native Plant Trust's seed facilities, and expertise in all aspects of processing and banking seed and propagating even hard-to-grow New England native plants.

For decades, Native Plant Trust has managed the sole seed bank of rare and endangered plant species in New England and has applied this knowledge to more common native plant species as the Nasami Farm Nursery has grown. Staff are trained in all aspects of seed cleaning, drying, freezing, and long-term storage. The protocols for preserving seeds can vary by species, and with decades of experience with both rare and common species, Native Plant Trust is best to serve as the regional seed hub.

By helping to build a native seed pipeline, Native Plant Trust can increase the native seeds and plants available for ecological restoration that are of local provenance and are not clones of plants from elsewhere in the country that may not thrive in the local soil and climate. Native Plant Trust's long-term objectives are to protect wild populations from overharvesting, provide ecologically valuable seed and plant material, and bank seed for the future.

Native Plant Trust

15.654 - National Wildlife Refuge System Enhancements

FWS Headquarters (HQ) [DOI - FWS]

Fish and Wildlife Service Region 5: Northeast [DOI - FWS]

Essex, Massachusetts United States

County-Wide

F-FWS-NWRS-22-100

Infrastructure $350,000 (100%) percent this Cooperative Agreement was funded by the 2021 Infrastructure Act.