Native Seed Harvesting
There is an ongoing shortage of native seed for restoration of disturbances in native grasslands.
Some of the native grass and forb species required can only be obtained through harvesting the seed from intact native plant communities. Examples include plains rough fescue, mountain rough fescue, western porcupine grass, needle-and-thread grass, and other key native grasses and forb species. Wild harvesting is a process which strips mature seed from the reproductive structure of the plant by hand or by mechanical means, leaving the leaf and root structures intact. In addition, a portion of the stripped seed is dropped to the ground which disperses mature seed and contributes to the native seedbank.