Tncs ecosystem restoration team ERT based out of bristol FL has a long relationship with the neighboring florida state park staff to burn and collect wiregrass seed for restoration throughout the arsa…

This $367,220 federal Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the National Wildlife Refuge System Enhancements program (CFDA 15.654) will support ecosystem restoration and longleaf pine conservation efforts in the ARSA region of Florida. The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the grant recipient, will use the funding to expand its capacity for collecting and distributing wiregrass seed for restoration projects on public lands. Specifically, the award will enable TNC to acquire additional equipment to increase seed harvesting potential and provide more storage space to process and preserve the collected seed. This will allow TNC and its partners, including the neighboring Florida State Park, to scale up their collaborative efforts to support longleaf pine ecosystem restoration across the region, which is critical for areas impacted by wildfires. The project period runs from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2026.

Tncs ecosystem restoration team ERT based out of bristol FL has a long relationship with the neighboring florida state park staff to burn and collect wiregrass seed for restoration throughout the arsa region. Neighboring sites in need of seed are supplied on a first come first served basis depending upon the availability of seed collected each year. Partners typically contribute through sharing equipment personnel or related contract costs such as seed cleaning. Due to increased attention on longleaf pine restoration as well as significant public land purchases in the arsa region partners are presently looking to expand capacity for this type of restoration which is certainly applicable to areas impacted by wildfirehaving additional appropriately sized equipment would increase the potential for staff to collect on prepared areas during that narrow window to harvest seed as equipment would become property of TNC IT would be maintained according to appropriate schedules and used in subsequent years to increase harvesting capacity a need has also been identified for increased storage space for seed during the processing window the current facility in bristol can hold a maximum of 6000 pounds of seed prior to processing effectively scaling up this operation will require more enclosed space to preserve seed during processing