by Alexis Larson, December 2025

On September 20, 2025, IAE celebrated its 25th anniversary with an open house to showcase accomplishments of the past two and a half decades including displays and activities from conservation research, habitat restoration, ecological education, our Southwest branch, and a newer program in the NW, Plant Materials. The Plant Materials Program, or PMP, also celebrated a milestone at the open house – five years as an official program of IAE. The program existed in various ways prior to 2021 – mainly via the Native Seed Network and within the restoration program – but not in the sense that it exists today with 8 full time staff positions and a budget comparable to other programs. 

At the end of 2021, I transitioned from Seed Partnership Coordinator to PMP Director and working with Mara Friddle, Farm Manager, and Morgan Franke, Plant Materials Coordinator, we built the foundation that this program continues to grow upon today. This meant combing through endless spreadsheets, emails, reports, and grant agreements to piece together the current state of plant materials needs for our partners. Five years later we have grown over 50 species, collected seed from 150 species, grown over 147,000 plugs for restoration, worked with 8 regional growers, and hosted two in person and two virtual conferences. We also joined the Oregon Native Seed Collective and assisted with writing the Oregon Native Seed Strategy, published in January 2025. 

For the open house the PMP team was excited to show off our work and accomplishments. Open house visitors flocked to the new seed shop to see seed cleaning demonstrations and make their best guess at the number of seeds in the jar. We fielded lots of questions and were excited to have so much engagement with our work. As the program director for the last four years, I couldn’t have been more honored to be part of such an amazing team of passionate people who love native seed and to get to share that passion with our community. 

Then, three days after the open house, on an unassuming Tuesday, the management team opened their emails at the start of the day to find notices of terminated agreements with the Department of the Interior. By 9am PST we were holding an emergency meeting to assess what was going on and the devastation hit soon after – IAE had just lost 70% of its funding from four agencies at both branches. In the coming days, we were able to determine the loss amounted to $3 million in obligated funding and $10 million total including forecasted funding. The devastation and shock was felt far and wide amongst staff and partners alike. Suddenly our accomplishments from a few days earlier were shrouded in grief and uncertainty for our futures in conservation. Three months later we are still reeling from the loss…but there has been a silver lining – our community has stepped up and shown that they share our grief and value what we do through donations, brainstorming sessions, and grant support.

The Institute for Applied Ecology started as a grassroots, community-driven organization, seeking to restore ecosystems in the Willamette Valley and beyond.  As we’ve grown in the past few decades, we have become a nationally recognized organization expanding work into six states, spreading our roots from Oregon throughout the west and southwest. Now as we take time to assess, to mourn, and to strategize how to rebuild, we are finding hope in our community, not only within the professional realm but with people who find value in the work that we do and the contribution it makes to our ecosystems. The staff at IAE are some of the most passionate people I have ever worked with – we aren’t in it for the money, we’re in it for the plants, for the animals, for the habitat, and for the earth. 

As we look ahead to 2026, my biggest hope for IAE is that we can rebuild and continue to advance recovery efforts for endangered species, supply restoration projects with diverse native seed, and provide jobs for young professionals. While many uncertainties remain, one constant we have seen is the support and love from our community. Thank you to all that have shown their support not only in the last few months but throughout the lifetime of IAE. We couldn’t do what we do with you!