IAE staff and contractors visit each prison weekly starting in April when inmate crews mix together peat moss, vermiculite and perlite followed by carefully filling conetainers (small cone-shaped pots) with the soil mixture and sagebrush seeds. Throughout the summer inmates water, thin, and fertilize the seedlings. Come fall, adults in custody box up the plants for delivery. In some instances, eligible inmates leave their prison facility during the day to out-plant the seedlings in their new habitat. “This program is great because not only do we produce locally adapted sagebrush plugs for restoration, but there is also an educational component where we teach them WHY we are growing all this sagebrush. It is also gives the inmates a chance to be a part of something positive and give back to our local communities and for some of them it truly changes their lives, says Nevada contractor Shannon Swim who has worked with the program for 3 years. "It is the most rewarding work I have ever done!”
Not only are local natural areas profiting from the native plant plugs, but the inmates benefit as well. Through botanical curriculum and hands-on training in horticulture techniques, inmates gain skills in problem solving, team building, data collection and ecological restoration. Inmates also receive sustainability lectures from educators who come to the facility each month to discuss topics such as green energy, beekeeping, mammals of the sagebrush steppe and other aspects of science or ecology. Idaho Contractor Nancy DeWitt works with 3 prisons and commented, "Working with inmates to grow native plants for habitat restoration has been an amazing experience. Watching such diverse--and often quite broken--individuals coalesce as a team and blossom alongside their seedlings is very moving. The inmates learn new skills, overcome challenges, practice patience and respect, and share a huge sense of accomplishment by growing so many first-rate plants. I have also enjoyed bringing educational programs into the prisons that help foster a sense of environmental stewardship among this under-served population." An officer in Nevada working with the program added, “I truly believe it improved the quality of life for the inmates involved. I’m betting somewhere down the line of events in these guy’s lives they will make a positive decision that they would have otherwise not considered had they not been part of your program.” Wyoming contractor Tina Russell said, "We had a truly excellent crew of inmates who worked very well together. They worked collaboratively to solve problems, recruited other interested inmates to help, and were very diligent about doing their jobs and doing them correctly!"
For inmates serving time, the “Sagebrush in Prison Project” provides a needed opportunity to work outside and nurture living things. For many it is the first time they have had much contact with nature. A Nevada inmate eloquently stated, “On a personal level, working on the Sagebrush in Prisons Project has given me back my connection to nature as well as helping with my PTSD and anxiety. I feel humbled, a great sense of pride to know that although I’m incarcerated I’m contributing to a greater cause." A South Boise Womans CC inmate helped plant out the seedlings she cared for all summer said, “My participation in the Sagebrush in Prisons Project has been empowering. The project offered me hope when I had none, solace and solitude in an otherwise chaotic, depressing and often, oppressive living situation. I found the project site to be a sanctuary—a place to find peace of mind and foster my sense of purpose while contributing to the rebuilding of habitat for our wildlife."
