Nancy Shaw, USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Boise , ID 33702
(email: nshaw@fs.fed.us)

The use of native plants for restoration has been encouraged by Congress in the Department of Interiors budget, in an Presidential Executive Order (No. 13112), and by the Great Basin Restoration Initiative. A multi-state, collaborative research project was initiated in 2001 to evaluate, select, and increase native seed production in the Great Basin under the leadership of the USFS Intermountain Research Station. Fourteen cooperators (7 federal agencies, 3 state agencies, 3 universities, and the private seed industry) are active partners in this effort. A multi-step process is employed to improve the availability of seed from the 49 native species in the project, especially forbs, for restoration projects and rehabilitation after wildfires:

Seed collection ----->

Evaluation and selection ----->

Seed production by private sector ----->

Application  =

Results