Funding opportunity number: L24AS00081 funding opportunity goals text: developing genetically appropriate native plant material seed for use in habitat restoration

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management awarded a $178,442.86 Cooperative Agreement under the Plant Conservation and Restoration Management program (CFDA 15.245) to the Natural Areas Association. The award supports the planning and delivery of a conference track focused on native plant materials at the 50th Natural Areas Conference, to be held in Manhattan, Kansas. Key activities include developing genetically appropriate native plant materials for habitat restoration, implementing and assessing seed-based restoration techniques, inventorying and restoring rare plant species, and creating conservation strategies and best management practices. The agreement also provides funding for associated costs like AV, transportation, personnel, and travel. The award period is from August 2024 to August 2025.

Implementing and assessing seed-based restoration techniques efforts. Inventorying, monitoring, and restoring rare plant species and their associated communities to include development of conservation strategies plans that include best management practices and reporting on the condition and trend of rare plant species and their habitat. We seek support to help underwrite the planning and delivery of a conference track focused on native plant materials at our 50TH natural areas conference. This conference will be held in manhattan, KS, the home of the konza prairie, and will be focused on grassland ecosystems with a track dedicated to the use of native plant materials in restoration. With attendance projected between 300-400 land-management professionals working in all sectors, and who are committed to the ongoing protection of natural areas. Their goal is to sustain these natural areas as resilient, functioning ecosystems for future generations. Natural areas practitioners turn to natural areas associations high-quality resources and programs to remain on top of current science and cutting-edge methodologies in their field, and the topic of native seed is one that is innately tied to restoration efforts. This funding will provide financial assistance with AV, transportation to field sites, and personnel and travel costs associated with the development of native seed programming. Our partners at the institute for applied ecology have agreed to serve as content managers for native seed programming at the NAC2. Because the use of native plant materials is so integral to restoration efforts, we anticipate this theme running through other tracks as well. In addition to programming for the NAC24, we are proactively reaching out to growers and suppliers of native seed to be part of the conference as speakers, facilitators and exhibitors. We invite input and participation and partners on programming to advance native seed strategies. We will also include a double exhibition space at the conference to showcase the national native seed strategy, plant conservation and restoration program of the seeds of success program. The proposed panel for the national native seed conference (nnsc) will share strategies used by state natural areas programs to meet their own demands for native seed as they work to restore, maintain and create resiliency for ecologically significant landscapes at a state and local level.