Fort Belknap Indian Community Seeds of Success Native Seed and Grassland Restoration Community Conservation Project

We are implementing a BLM Montana ethnobotany native plant seed collection and Tribal conservation corps ecocultural restoration pilot project. The project is led by the Oregon State University (OSU) College of Forestry (CoF). We are implementing the National Seed Strategy and Plant Conservation and Restoration Program (PCRP) by following Seeds of Success (SOS) protocols to help ensure a stable and economical supply of native plant materials for restoration and rehabilitation efforts on public lands. Our work is taking place on the Northern Great Plains on BLM lands adjacent to Fort Belknap Indian Reservation Lands, in a semi-arid mixed-grass prairie. Primary activities consist of establishing federal Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) plots and making SOS collections of native seeds within a 200 m radius of those plots. Additional activities include ethnobotany and soil data collection. Here is a link to the SOS technical protocol: https://www.blm.gov/sites/default/files/docs/2021-12/SOS%20Technical%20Protocol.pdf   Here is the link to the AIM technical protocol: https://www.nfwf.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/cogrsg-2023-aim_0.pdf