Gifford Pinchot Native Plant Survey and Seed Collection
DEA botanists worked with Gifford Pinchot National Forest Service to expand its native plant program to include seeds of grasses, herbs and shrubs.
DEA developed and implemented forest-wide surveys to identify native plant populations. Using adaptive management techniques, DEA and the Forest Service utilized information gained from the site surveys to focus collection efforts on 11 target species, located in four seed zones and three elevation bands, to serve as seed sources.
DEA created a custom interactive database linked to the Forest Service GIS for quick data retrieval. DEA helped the Gifford Pinchot native plant program accomplish in one year what had taken other forests three to five years to accomplish.