Ecoregional Programs
The BLM Plant Conservation and Restoration Program has ecoregional native plant materials development programs for the Great Basin, Colorado Plateau, and Mojave Desert.
An ecoregion is defined by its environmental conditions, climate, landforms, and soils. These characteristics are reflected in the regions native plant communities and the ecosystem services they provide. Focusing vegetation management activities at the ecoregional scale allows BLM to make the most efficient use of its resources by developing management practices that address similar environmental conditions and harness market-based economic systems that support and address the seed needs of the largest area possible. At the same time, the landscape approach opens up the opportunity to work with other federal, state, local and private stakeholders facing similar needs to find common solutions.
The BLM Ecoregional Coordinators serve as the regional point of contact to coordinate with state office programs to implement the native plant materials development process. These positions provide technical support to state and field office program staff with vegetation management responsibilities including but not limited to the botany, range, forestry, wildlife, weeds, riparian, fire and fuels programs. The ecoregional coordinators assist with implementation of the National Seed Strategy and National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators.
The Great Basin Native Plant Project This multi-state, collaborative research project was initiated in 2001 by the Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. Major objectives are to improve the availability of native plant materials and to provide the knowledge and technology required for their use in restoring diverse native plant communities across the Great Basin. More than 30 federal, state, and private cooperators are involved in this project.
Colorado Plateau Native Plant Program The Colorado Plateau in the American Southwest is a land of extremes. The plant communities of the Colorado Plateau are representative of the highly variable and extreme conditions that occur here. The major goals of this effort are to increase the availability of native plant materials and to provide the knowledge and technology required for their use in restoring diverse native plant communities across the Colorado Plateau.
Mojave Desert Native Plant Program The Mojave Desert encompasses a diverse range of habitats, including isolated mountain ranges, desert basins, sand dunes, and riparian areas around isolated springs and streams. Restoration here is challenging, and the goals of the program are to increase the availability of locally adapted native plant materials, and provide the knowledge and technology necessary for successful native plant community restoration across the Mojave Desert.
