By Alexis Larsen, October 2024
The Northwest Plant Materials Program (NW PMP) consists of a group of dedicated and knowledgeable staff taking on a wide variety of projects from wild seed collection to native seed farming, as well as planning the 2025 National Native Seed Conference and building out a more robust restoration supply chain through our native seed partnerships in the Northwest and beyond. Check out some of our work via the photo gallery below!
Wild Seed Collection
The NW Seed Collection Program collects wild seed from a variety of different species, from workhorse to endangered species, and everything in between. These wild collections are primarily used for restoration, native seed increase fields, and seed banking. So far we have collected seed from 47 species and still have a few more collections to complete. The collection team was able to travel all over the state of Oregon, witnessing unique plants and landscapes along the way.
Native Seed Farm
The NW IAE Native Seed Farm grew 46 species in 64 fields this year encompassing 2.8 acres of seed production. Farm staff are in the midst of seed cleaning but so far the farm produced 285 pounds of seed for restoration and recovery efforts.
The last of the hefty harvests at the farm is complete. Threatened by September rains, PMP folk work to harvest American bird’s-foot trefoil (Acmispon americanus) with the help of shop vacs, brooms, and hand snips. Lauren Berger (left) is shown using a shop-vac to capture fallen seed, Emily Hayden (middle) is clipping each plant at its base, and Morgan Maier (right) is sweeping seed off of the weed fabric.
Native Seed Mixing for Restoration
Another big project that occurs in the fall is native seed mix development. The NW PMP supports IAE’s Restoration Program by procuring native seed from eight growers throughout the Willamette Valley and weighing out species for each mix. This year we are putting together 33 mixes composed of 1,500 pounds of seed!
Native Seed Network
The Native Seed Network (NSN), relaunching in February 2025, is an online resource to facilitate connection between native seed users in the US. The NSN will have three main components: a Vendor Match Tool, which will allow native seed users to search the inventories of native seed vendors; a community forum where native seed users can connect with one another and share knowledge; and a resource center with things like guides for developing seed mixes, a seed partnership directory, lists of relevant web tools, and other relevant resources.
National Native Seed Conference
The National Native Seed Conference connects research, industry, land management, and restoration professionals, providing the premier opportunity to develop relationships and share information about the collection, research and development, production, and use of native plant materials. We are currently planning the 2025 conference to be held in Tucson, AZ at the end of February. Registration opens October 30th!
