Kemmerer Field Office
| Contacts: | Shelley Gregory | |||
| 307-315-0612 |
BLM Kemmerer Field Office Plans "Seeds of Success" Effort
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Kemmerer Field Office (KFO) is planning to collect native plant seeds for the second year as part of the BLM’s Seeds of Success (SOS) program. The first seed collecting effort this year will be in the Church Buttes area, eight miles southwest of Granger, Wyo., from July 11 through 13.
The Church Buttes area is undergoing oil and gas development and native seeds may be needed for reclamation purposes in the future. BLM employees and the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps will be collecting up to eight species, including fleabane, goldenweed and buckwheat, by hand. With a crew of 8-10, an estimated 10,000 seeds can sometimes be collected in just a few hours.
SOS is a part of the Native Plant Materials Development Program established by Congress in 2001 after the severe wildfire seasons of 1999 and 2000. Native forb, grass and shrub seeds are collected primarily from BLM land for long-term storage and use in conservation and reclamation. Native seeds are beneficial because they provide genetic diversity and ecological resilience and can also compete better with non-native species and weeds as many parts of the country are being affected by climate change, wildfire and drought.
SOS has over 8,163 native seed collections and gathers between 400 and 600 types of wild land seed annually. BLM SOS collections represent 10 percent of the species in the western U.S. stored in the international Millennium Seed Bank. More information on the BLM Wyoming Plant Conservation Program and SOS can be found at www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/pcp.html and www.nps.gov/plants/sos.
For more information, please contact Marion Mahaffey, KFO natural resource specialist, at 307-828-4543 or mmahaffey@blm.gov.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
Kemmerer Field Office 312 Highway 189 North Kemmerer WY 83101