ASTA Hosts Environmental & Conservation Seed Workshop in Boise

On April 4, 23 ASTA members participated in the Environmental & Conservations seed workshop in Boise. The participants were welcomed by June Shoemaker, Deputy State Director for BLM. There were discussions on Multi-Agency Seed Procurement and Distribution by Fred Edwards, BLM Great Basin Ecoregional Coordinator, USDI Bureau of Land Management; Encapsulated Seed Research & Other Seed Modification Efforts by Matt Madsen, Asst. Professor of Plant & Wildlife Sciences, College of Life Science, BYU; and Sagebrush Identification, Wildland Seed Collection, Field Grown Seed, and Seed Certification by Michael Bouck, Secretary-Manager, Utah Crop Improvement Association. Francis Kilkenny, a research biologist and Great Basin Native Plant Project Lead from the Forest Service, led a Sagebrush Seed Working Group Activity. Patricia Roller, the National Seed Coordinator for BLM, gave a Bureau of Land Management update. The participants then received a virtual tour and overview of the soda rehabilitation project by Cindy Fritz, Natural Resource Specialist Rehabilitation and Restoration at BLM and a tour of the BLM Seed Distribution Warehouse.