Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8452 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2016 HOW LOCAL IS LOCAL? That’s the underlying question seed industry players are asking these days when it comes to native plant material. There is no national standard for what constitutes native seed and preferences vary by state, but the demand con- tinues to grow for grasses and forbs that are best suited to popu- late land that would otherwise face environmental degradation. A patchwork of programs, plus the nature of this specialized system, leave the native seed market fragmented, making it hard for seed producers to make investments for the future. As this segment of the seed industry evolves, leaders hope all the play- ers can unify and create a vision for the future. Bill Agnew, who works with California’s S&S Seeds through his firm Agnew Environmental Consulting, says the discord between supply and demand takes center stage in California, where standards dictate that natives used for renovating and rehabilitation must be “ecotype” seed that originated within a certain distance of the project site. Considering that millions of acres succumb to wildfires every year nationwide, that amounts to strong demand for specific species that create healthy ecosystems. But without a crystal ball to know where the next fire will break out, it’s challenging for seed producers and collectors to anticipate just what plant com- munities will burn and what species will be needed or when. “This works when you have a local need. Supplies of local ecotype seed are good for dozens of acres at a time, but think about the huge amount needed to restore hundreds of thou- sands of acres. Typically, what most of the agencies rely on are cultivars and selections. Most people realize if you want to do good native reclamation, you need to go outside of the narrow local box,” Agnew says of working with grasses and forbs that form healthy populations before non-natives move in. There’s hundreds of native grass species in California. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reports that flames have ripped through more than 183,000 acres in 2016, as of late August. In Agnew’s opinion, looking outside the box doesn’t mean settling for the subpar. Many excellent cultivars and selections have been developed by the federal government’s Agricultural Research Service laboratories and Plant Material Centers, such as Bluebunch wheatgrass, a perennial native to the northern Great Plains and Intermountain regions of the western United States. No Single Answer “Our members recognize that, in instances where the goal is native restoration, we want to maximize flexibility for land managers dealing with large scale disturbances,” says Jane DeMarchi, vice president of government and regulatory affairs for the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). She notes that in the cases of wildfires, seeding must be done expeditiously to prevent unwanted plants or soil erosion from taking hold. “There is no one answer as to how native is native. The best strategy is to buy seed that is more broadly adapted to a region.” Earlier this year, ASTA expressed concern over some of the tenets of the 2015 National Seed Strategy, which calls for special- ized native seed to serve as the foundation for the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) reclamation projects. The organiza- tion says this kind of campaign doesn’t take into account the “commercial realities” of developing and supplying sufficient seed quantities for massive plantings following wildfires. ASTA believes implementation of the National Seed Strategy requires oversight by Congress. Overall benefit to the environment is another factor to con- sider when searching for the best native plant material. The native seed industry seeks a cohesive strategy and standards for the future. Maria Brown SETTING a STANDARD The staff of S&S Seeds, located in Carpinteria, Calif., offers more than 1,000 species of grasses, wildflowers and shrubs native to the state. Clockwise from front row left: Jody Miller, Becky Rinaldi, Susan Schaff, Victor Schaff, Tracey Nisky and Gilbert Barajas.