Daily Archives: January 27, 2020

A growing number of people are beginning to live in intentional communities for surprisingly pragmatic reasons.

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When people talk about utopias, theyre generally talking about communities that existed in the past the sort of spaces that havent been around for centuries and exist more as historical footnotes than anything else. The 1960s sparked another wave of communes, most but not all of which have ceased to exist or transformed into something very different from their founding principles.

In contemporary times, when discussion of people establishing communities around shared beliefs and values, its tended to come under heaps of criticism witness the critiques made of conservative writer Rod Dreher in 2018, for instance. Dreher has written about drawing inspiration from monastic communities, but has also been criticized on repeat occasions for his handling of race in his books and essays.

A recent article by Mike Mariani atT Magazine, however, suggests that utopian communes might just be making the unlikeliest of comebacks. It begins with a visit to the East Wind Community, located in Missouri and established in 1974. Their website describes them as an [i]ncome-sharing, egalitarian community in the rural Ozarks, and Marianis descriptions of the space sound idyllic but not impractical. Consider:

Everyone has somewhere to be, yet no one is hurried. There are no smartphones in sight. The collective feels like a farm, a work exchange and a bustling household rolled into one, with much work to be done but many hands to be lent.

As it turns out, theres an informational organization for spaces like East Wind the Foundation for Intentional Community. According toT Magazine, the Foundations latest directory encompassed 1,200 communities, housing around 100,000 people.

Mariani also discusses another, similar, community Cedar Moon, in Oregon which offers another appealing reasons as to why communal living has caught on again.

Cedar Moon isnt off the power grid, but its residents have a dramatically smaller carbon footprint than the average American because they share resources, grow much of their own produce, use composting toilets and heat their homes with wood-burning stoves, Mariani writes. Its not hard to see the appeal of a space like this.

Also appealing? The research that shows that residents of communities like these tend to be among the happiest people on the planet. Does that mean that this is a way of life for everyone? Probably not but for a type of community that seems deeply idealistic, the number of pragmatic reasons around life there shouldnt be discounted.

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The Unexpected Rise of 21st-Century Utopian Communities - InsideHook

Portland police said Friday that there have been five deaths among 11 drug overdoses reported in the city so far this month, another sign that the opioid crisis still rages in Maine.

This is a concerning spike we felt necessary to advise the public about so that users and families know what resources and help are available to them, Police Chief Frank Clark said in a statement. We will continue to work with our law enforcement, public health, and prevention partners in hopes of turning the tide on this epidemic.

The recent victims were: a 49-year-old woman, a 22-year-old man, a 24-year-old man, a 35-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man. One of the deaths was an intentional overdose, police said, and all are still under investigation. Police said opioids are the suspected cause in at least two of the five fatalities, and methamphetamine and synthetic marijuana, or spice, were also involved.

On Thursday, state officials released new data that showed a slight increase in overdose deaths in Maine for the first nine months of 2019, reversing a 15 percent decline from 2017 to 2018. From January through September of last year, 277 people died from drug overdoses, putting the state on track for 369 fatal overdoses for the entire year. That would be a 4 percent increase over 2018.

Gordon Smith, the states first director of opioid response, said the statewide numbers are disheartening but many efforts to provide broader access to naloxone and expand needle exchange programs are only now getting underway. He also pointed to gaps in Maines response to the crisis, including a lack of recovery coaches and recovery houses to complement the availability of medication-assisted treatment.

Although few communities have been spared from the opioid crisis, Portland has carried a heavy burden 318 overdose deaths from 2008 through 2018.

Portland police said they are working to identify traffickers and highlighted a recent arrest that involved the seizure of 375 grams of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that has supplanted heroin as the most lethal drug.

Police also noted that the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, sometimes called Narcan, is available without a prescription at pharmacies. Portland Public Health also offers no-cost Narcan, as well as overdose recognition and response training. A community training and Narcan distribution event will be held Wednesday, starting at 4:30 p.m. at 103 India St. The training is free and open to the public.

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Five overdose deaths so far this month have Portland on alert - Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel

Saturday, Feb. 1, is the final day for both TN Promise high school and college students to complete the 2020-2021 FAFSA to retain scholarship eligibility. The FAFSA, a federal application, is the primary financial aid application that any student enrolling in post-secondary must complete in order to determine state and federal scholarship and grant qualifications.

tnAchieves strongly encourages all students, regardless of post-secondary plans, to file the FAFSA as soon as possible, says Amanda Schneider, tnAchieves Senior Director of Communications. The FAFSA is directly correlated with increased college enrollment and completion. Completing a FAFSA creates opportunities for students as it allows a student to access federal and state aid.

Not only has Tennessees college going rate increased to nearly 63 percent since the implementation of TN Promise, Tennessee has become a national leader in FAFSA completion over the past five years. This is in large part due to increased communication and intentional support.

Local communities continue to come together to assist students in successfully completing FAFSA and enrolling in post-secondary, says Krissy DeAlejandro, tnAchieves Executive Director. School counselors, K-12 administration, college professionals, state agencies and local non-profits have aligned to offer critical support as students and families begin and complete the financial aid process. This alignment is crucial to ensuring student success and college completion!

For TN Promise eligibility, high school seniors and current TN Promise college students must complete the 2020-2021 FAFSA no later than Feb. 1, 2020. The FAFSA is found at http://www.fafsa.gov.

To learn more, visit http://www.tnachieves.org. For assistance in completing FAFSA, students and families may contact [emailprotected]

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Have you filed a FAFSA? Deadline is Feb. 1 - Kingsport Times News

By Anna StjernquistBU News Service

BOSTON No threats, no bombs, no war with Iran, anti-war protestors chanted as they marched from the Massachusetts State House toward the streets surrounding Boston Common on Saturday.

According to organizers, around 500 demonstrators gathered outside the Massachusetts State House at 2 p.m. to protest the U.S. going to war with Iran and troops in the Middle East.

The State House protests are part of global uprisings in 19 countries and 117 cities, according to organizers, and the second mass action following escalating political turmoil that worsened after a U.S. airstrike attack killed Iranian military commander, Qasem Soleimani, on Jan. 3.

On Jan. 4, thousands of protesters, endorsed by several anti-war organizations, gathered in cities across the U.S. to condemn the drone strike in Baghdad. Demonstrations in more than 80 communities were planned.

The Answer Coalition, a national anti-war organization, is hosting global protests to bring attention to the rising conflict between the U.S. and Iran and its potential impact across the world.

Similar protests have broken out internationally. On Friday, a national demonstration, called for by a Shia cleric and Iran-backed groups, drew together hundreds of thousands of people in Baghdad to march against U.S. military presence.

Nino Brown, a local organizer at the Answer Coalition, said a major difference between this protest and the first round of protests is that they want to bring more voices to the conversation.

We have made it an intentional and deliberate task to bring organizations that are not typically in the anti-war conversation, Brown said.

He also mentioned an invitation asking Puerto Rico Me Llama, a Puerto Rican nonprofit focusing on the freedom and sovereignty of Puerto Rico, to co-host the protests.

A spokesperson for Puerto Rico Me Llama said they were unable to attend, but they endorse the protests.

We acknowledge that U.S. imperialism is not only a common enemy of Puerto Rico and the international community but also the enemy of Americans at home who desire peace and prosperity, a spokesperson said in a statement.

Michael Bresnahan, a protestor and member of Refuse Fascism, said hes been trying to change the world through political activism his whole life.

This changes nothing, Bresnahan said. We live in dangerous times, and Im hoping people will wake up to the dangerous times and react to it.

Brown explained that The Answer Coalition first formed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 in anticipation of the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East.

Now, the ultimate goal of the protests is to build an anti-war movement.

Its easier said than done, but an anti-war movement can only be built by people: People who see themselves as activists and organizers and people who see themselves as affected by war, Brown said. The goal of the protest is really to raise awareness, to consolidate our forces and to consolidate our supporters.

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Hundreds of protestors march with anti-war movements against U.S. role in the Middle East - BU News Service

Maj. Wendell Franklin was introduced Wednesday as Tulsas next police chief.

I am so fearful of failing, OK, but I know I cant fail because I have such a great group of people around to help me, Franklin said during an afternoon press conference at City Hall.

Franklin, 46, was selected by Mayor G.T. Bynum to succeed Chief Chuck Jordan, who is retiring Feb. 1.

Out of the several excellent public servants, I have decided that Wendell Franklin is the best person to lead the Tulsa Police Department moving forward because he has a clear vision of the Tulsa Police Department, because he is an effective team builder with high standards, and because he knows personally the realities of community policing in all parts of our city, Bynum said.

Franklins passion for innovation and his selfless management style reflect the ideal that my administration seeks to install in the culture of our great city, the mayor said.

Franklin is the first African-American to serve as the citys police chief on a permanent basis. Deputy Chief Bobby Busby served as acting chief in the early 1990s.

Franklin, who was accompanied by his wife, Arquicia Franklin, and their two sons, said he and his family recognize the historic significance of his selection.

But I am so much more focused on where we need to go and what I need to do, he said.

Franklin was commander of the Gilcrease Division in historically black north Tulsa for several years, an experience he said has helped him appreciate the complex relationship between that community and the officers who serve it.

I have always tried to reach out in north Tulsa and be intentional, he said. And what were going to have to do is be more intentional in our outreach and how we go out into the community.

Bynum, too, acknowledged the historic significance of Franklins selection but said race did not play a factor in his decision.

I love the fact that the kids growing up in north Tulsa can see that a kid growing up in north Tulsa can become chief of police. I think that is a wonderful thing, Bynum said, but that is coincidental and was not a reason I made the decision.

Franklin joined the Tulsa Police Department in 1997. He is a 1992 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School and a 1996 graduate of Langston University in Tulsa.

He began his TPD career patrolling in north Tulsa. He was promoted to sergeant and worked overnight in the Mingo Valley Division. He went on to become an administrative sergeant in the Special Investigations Division. As a captain, he worked overnight at the Gilcrease Division before being promoted to major.

He most recently led the departments Headquarters Division, where he oversaw accreditation and helped develop and implement policy.

Franklin said Wednesday that he plans to use the latest technology to enhance transparency and improve service.

One of the things I believe is, if you are not growing, if you are stagnant, if you dont want to change, well, change is happening, he said.

Asked about the citys participation in the Live PD television program a recent subject of controversy Franklin acknowledged the entertainment aspect of the show but also noted its benefits.

I will say this about Live PD, Live PD is entertainment. There is no question about it; it is entertainment, he said. But I will say that, where else can I for free as a chief of police, show transparency? Where else can I showcase the work of what TPD is doing on a national stage?

Franklin lives in Broken Arrow but said he plans to move into the city of Tulsa.

I just need to move over a couple blocks and be in a Tulsa address, he said.

Franklin was one of four finalists for the job. The others were Deputy Chiefs Jonathan Brooks, Dennis Larsen and Eric Dalgleish.

Bynum said several factors separated Franklin from the rest of the field.

I think the great distinguishing factors for him were his work as a front-line commander and officer to whom community policing came by instinct, the mayor said. He was out doing it before we knew to call it community policing, and that he has that reputation for being a great team builder.

City Council Chairman Ben Kimbro praised the mayors selection. Kimbro was one of 10 citizen panelists who interviewed the finalists.

Wendell Franklin is what you see is what you get, Kimbro said. He is honest; he is forthcoming. His expectations of command staff down to rookies is going to be very high.

I think it is a fantastic day and an opportunity, representational of the next steps in the growth of the Police Department. He is going to do a great job.

Sheriff Vic Regalado, a former Tulsa police officer, also praised the selection.

I can tell you Wendell possesses all the qualities that we look for in a chief of police integrity, strong work ethic, Regalado said. And he has a unique ability to connect and communicate with people of all various communities that make up the great city of Tulsa.

Bynum ended his remarks by thanking Jordan for his 50 years of service to the city, the last 10 as police chief.

Chief Jordan was exactly what this city needed at a low point in its history, Bynum said. And his steady hand has guided us through moments of severe trial and, more recently, moments of unprecedented growth. He has set a high bar.

Timeline: A look at Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordans career

Chuck Jordan joined the Tulsa Police Department in 1969. He was an inaugural member of its Special Operations Team in 1978 and led task forces targeting crime sprees and serial offenders, including the Shower Stall Rapist in 1980, the Morning Stalker in 1989 and the Brookside rapist in 1995.

In 1991, Jordan created the Tactical Response Squad to address armed robbery, arresting 183 robbery suspects in two years. He also served as the Street Crimes Unit/Serial Offender Operations sergeant targeting drug and serial offenders from 1993 until his retirement in 2001.

From September 2003 to September 2005, Jordan was a regional commander as part of the United Nations civilian police mission in war-torn Kosovo. Jordan credited this experience, where he led an international force of more than 1,200 police officers, with his interest in police administration.

In 2005, Jordan joined the Tulsa County Sheriffs Office. In the role, he supervised the countys SWAT team, reserve officer force and specialty teams until his appointment as interim chief of the Tulsa Police Department in 2010.

Appointed Interim Chief of Police: Jordan was sworn in as interim chief of police by Mayor Dewey Bartlett hours after the resignation of Chief Ron Palmer, who had held the position since 2007. The appointment came amid a citywide budget crisis and the same day 360 city employees, including 155 police officers, received layoff notices. The department also had a federal grand jury investigation of police corruption looming.

Named Chief of Police: After a spring filled with negotiations to rehire laid off officers and a summer which saw the indictment of multiple Tulsa officers in the ongoing corruption probe, Mayor Dewey Bartlett announced Jordan would lose his interim title and assume the office in a permanent role. In the nearly nine months at the helm, Jordan emphasized a return to the departments beat system, easing tensions between the city and police union, and continued efforts to combat police corruption. He would launch an officer misconduct tip line later that month as part of those efforts.

First police academy: Budget cuts forced a two-year gap in training officers that ended when Jordan addressed 42 apprentice police officers at the academy that morning. Forty of those officers would graduate that July.

Testimony in corruption trial: Jordan testified in federal court that officers violated department practice in a video that showed Tulsa officers put money in their own pockets during an FBI drug sting at a hotel. The corruption probe and resulting trials would lead to sweeping policy changes within the department involving informants and officers handling cash.

Good Friday shootings: Five black citizens in north Tulsa were shot and three of them died, sending shockwaves through the community. Jordan returned to his policing roots with Operation: Random Shooter, a joint task force of 30 investigators that led to the arrest of two men two days later. The shooters pleaded guilty and were sentenced to life without parole.

Apology for inaction: At Literacy, Legacy and Movement Day ceremonies at John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park, Jordan apologized for the police department not protecting citizens during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. As your chief today, I can apologize for our police department. I am sorry and distressed that the Tulsa Police Department did not protect its citizens during those tragic days in 1921.

Terence Crutcher shooting: Jordan held a press conference the Monday after Tulsa police Officer Betty Shelby fired a shot that killed Crutcher, who was unarmed, in the middle of a north Tulsa street on a Friday night. Jordan called videos of Crutchers death very disturbing and very difficult to watch. Shelby was charged with manslaughter, later acquitted and left the department.

TPD fully implements body-worn cameras: After first testing body-worn cameras in November 2016, the departments full bodycam policy came to fruition under Jordans watch.

Tulsa Police Chief Chuck Jordan announced his retirement after nine years leading the department.

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Wendell Franklin discusses his vision for TPD, 'Live PD' and being named Tulsa's first black police chief - Tulsa World

Replanting burned landscapes may be a natural response, but it can come come with steep costs to biodiversity.

January 23, 2020

In 2017 the Thomas fire raged through 281,893 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, California, leaving in its wake a blackened expanse of land, burned vegetation, and more than 1,000 destroyed buildings.

More tragedy soon followed. When rains finally arrived in January 2018, the waters hit hills where grasses, trees, and shrubs had all been burned away. The resulting mudslides, exacerbated by the fire-hardened soil, killed more than 20 people.

Perhaps thats one of the reasons some local residents wanted to take action right away, in the weeks after the fire, to bring life and color back to the charred hillsides by scattering the ground with seeds of the states iconic California poppy.

Such efforts wouldnt have prevented the mudslides, but the impulse to do something after a wildfire is natural, especially following a deadly catastrophe. But is reseeding a burned landscape the right way to go?

It turns out reseeding isnt always ecologically beneficial or effective. Most of it is undertaken with the intent of curbing erosion or limiting the spread of invasive plants. But according to a growing field of research, in some ecosystems reseeding doesnt have those desired effects and can even inhibit the ability of native plant communities to recover. That, in turn, can harm other native wildlife and even the climate.

Sometimes, experts say, the best thing to do is actually nothing. But that can be hard for the public to understand when wildfires hit so close to home.

The general public still sometimes expects to see the helicopters flying over the chaparral after fires, throwing that grass seed out there, says Jan Beyers, an emeritus scientist with the Forest Services Pacific Southwest Research Station.

Well-meaning community groups and even private citizens think theyre actually helping by reseeding and dont know that they may be causing more harm, says Liv OKeeffe, senior director of communications and engagement at California Native Plant Society.

Its not just a few eager residents who feel the call to reseed. Reseeding has been a common tactic of state and federal agencies across many parts of the western United States for decades, and still is in some areas. In the Great Basin alone, millions of acres of public lands have been reseeded after wildfires a lot of them with non-native grasses.

So with evidence mounting against large-scale reseeding, why is it still done?

That answer varies across the West, as each ecosystem presents unique challenges. And things get even more complicated in places where weve caused the biggest disruptions to the environment land that been has heavily developed, overrun by invasive species, or trampled by hordes of hungry cattle.

Most of the time, reseeding after wildfire is not a good idea, says Andrea Williams, the director of plant science at the California Native Plant Society.

The appropriate action to take post-fire, according to the organizations newly published fire-recovery guide, depends on where the fire happened, how intensely it burned, and the type of habitat affected. And sometimes the worst damage comes not the fire itself, but from firefighting with bulldozers and other heavy machinery that take a big toll on the environment. In those cases, more advanced restoration, including reseeding, could be needed.

In much of California, though, reseeding isnt necessary, she says. Wildfire is a natural occurrence in the state, and most native plants are adapted to it. Some species will only germinate after a fire, while others benefit from the light and space thats created in burned areas. In the weeks and months following a wildfire, nature can put on a show.

If you get the appropriate timing and intensity, youll get native wildflowers that you dont see except after a burn, like the fire poppy, says Williams. And thats because the char and ash produce chemicals that signal them to come up and bloom and take advantage of that space in the shrubland thats there after a fire.

Within about five months, native shrubs and oaks will also start sprouting, she says.

So seeding in those instances, particularly with non-native species and even with native species, is generally a bad idea.

Unfortunately, thats exactly what landowners and land managers have done for decades.

Wed load up an airplane with grass seeds and fly the entire fire area and just drop seed, says Eric Huff, staff chief of the Forest Practice Program for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Everyone felt good like theyd done something to arrest erosion but grass-seeding over large scales like that was not effective.

In fact, the majority of studies conducted in forests across the West showed that seeded areas were no better at preventing erosion than non-seeded areas, according to a 2011 survey of the scientific literature by researchers from the US Forest Service and Northern Arizona University. Even when seeded sites did produce more plant cover on the ground, it was rarely enough in the first two years to help hold soils in place.

Seeding is also done to help prevent invasive species plants that originate in another area and, once introduced, pose a threat to their new habitats biological diversity from taking over before other species can recover. But on that front, researchers have found its mostly a toss-up it only works about half the time. Thats because most of the treatments meant to limit invasive species actually used non-native seeds, which, though they may not be aggressively harmful, can still crowd out native plants.

This review, the authors wrote in their study, suggests that post-fire seeding does little to protect soil in the short term, has equivocal effect on invasion of non-native species, and can have negative effects on native vegetation recovery with possible long-term ecological consequences.

Beyers, who was one of the contributing scientists, says the mounting research helped change practices among agency staff in California. But its been harder to get the message out to the general public, and other states have continued the practice for example, Arizona, where a recent burn was sprayed with barley seeds.

When non-native grasses are reseeded they can do real harm.

One of the places where this has been apparent is in chaparral, the shrub-dominated ecosystem that thrives in Californias Mediterranean climate and is home to many of the states native plant species. Introducing non-native grasses there often ends up providing fuel for fires, says Richard Halsey, director of the California Chaparral Institute. Most of the grasses are annuals that die out by summer and provide dry tinder, often referred to as flash fuels, that ignite more quickly than sturdier shrubs during summer and fall fire season.

Chaparral is better left alone after a wildfire. Reseeding that was previously carried out by state and federal agencies only destroyed ecosystem integrity and ended up causing a more flammable environment, he says. Unless the landscapes been overrun by weeds already, people just ought to go home and leave the place alone and not introduce anything else into the system.

Reseeding efforts, to him, are just litigation mitigation a way for municipalities to say theyve at least done something after a fire, even if its not effective. The city or the county could say, We did what we could, were sorry the hillside came through your living room when it rained, he says.

Huff says Cal Fire generally advises against reseeding with grasses, except in limited circumstances and for small areas, like a 100-square-foot space around a creek or another municipal water source. The agency does work with local landowners to replant trees after wildfires, though. The program uses mostly seedlings that are 1 to 2 years old. We follow a specific seed-zone map that matches native species with the proper elevation, says Huff.

Land managers have mostly adapted. A more common practice than seeding these days is mulching, which can yield some better erosion-prevention results, she says, but she cautions that the mulch needs to be free of weed seeds, a common problem in straw and wood-chip mulches, to avoid creating the same problems that happen with intentional reseeding.

Out in the Great Basin the sweeping expanse dominated by sagebrush steppe that stretches across the intermountain West we find a different situation.

Reseeding after wildfires here is still a common practice, says Francis Kilkenny, a research biologist with the Forest Service and the technical lead of the Great Basin Native Plant Project, a joint effort with the Service and Bureau of Land Management.

Thats because these lower, drier elevations can be prone to recovery failures, he says, as opposed to forested ecosystems which tend to have more moisture and a better chance of natural recovery.

A bedeviling invasive species unintentionally introduced in the United States in the late 1800s makes recovery in the steppes even harder. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is often the first plant to establish itself after a wildfire. An annual, dense-growing grass that dies and dries out by summer, its also a notorious flash fuel that can drive more wildfires, creating a vicious cycle. It also dies earlier than native vegetation, extending the fire season.

To break that pattern, land managers will often seed an area after a wildfire with other quick-growing grasses. Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum), a fire-tolerant, non-native perennial, is a favorite. It comes with its own problems, but its good at outcompeting cheatgrass, and cattle enjoy it.

And thats another objective of managers on public lands providing forage for grazing.

Cattle on the landscape, however, create another kind of vicious cycle. They trample the biological soil crust that provides cover between native bunchgrasses. Intact, the crust can prevent cheatgrass seeds from taking hold, but once its been broken, the seeds have an easier time.

Cheatgrass invades after soils have been degraded by grazing, road building and other development, or off-road vehicles. So more grazing can mean more cheatgrass, which means more fire, which means more wheatgrass seeding, which results in more forage for cattle.

Across Nevada this kind of reseeding of non-native grasses has turned the sagebrush steppe into basically a cow range with monocultures of crested wheatgrass, says Laura Cunningham, the California director of the nonprofit Western Watersheds Project. And thats not a good habitat for other native species like sage grouse and mule deer.

Reseeding with non-native grasses like crested wheatgrass to beat out cheatgrass achieves the goals of suppressing invasive species and providing forage, but it comes at the expense of biological diversity, as crested wheatgrass also outcompetes almost every other native species its been measured against, says Kilkenny.

The cost of that tradeoff hasnt gone unnoticed.

Negative long-term effects of these species [of non-native grasses] on ecosystem functioning, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat have been documented, wrote Kilkenny and other scientists in a 2019 study.

And that has led to a change in practice.

From 1940 to 1980 virtually all reseeding was done with a mix of non-native forage grass, dominated by crested wheatgrass. In the following two decades, land managers began using some native seeds. By the turn of the century, there were more native seeds than non-native being used in reseeding and the mixes often contained a combination of grasses, forbs and shrubs. The most commonly used native species are Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), Lewis flax (Linum lewisii), and big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata).Part of the reason for that is that theres been more development of native species, so there are more options on the market, says Kilkenny. Short supply and high costs for native seeds have previously been cited as limiting factors.

But not every kind of native seed is cheap or easy to get. Some seeds, like sagebrush, must be harvested from wild plants, and growing seedlings often requires planting them by hand rather than having a machine toss them in bulk. Thats why land managers tend to favor seeds for perennial grasses that grow in a row-crop type environment.

The technology thats used to grow wheat has been transferred to growing these native bunchgrasses, says Kilkenny.

Its still rare to find native-only seed mixes being used. But research has shown that when it does happen, they can do nearly as well as crested wheatgrass in competing with the dreaded cheatgrass.

Still, progress continues. A 2017 study led by USGS ecologist David S. Pilliod analyzed treatments of public lands and found that the upward trend in reseeding with native species is likely to continue because, research suggests that locally adapted native seeds can perform better than seeds from distant locations or elevations.

Protecting native plants and working to restore areas where theyve been displaced can be slow going but a number of other native residents depend on the outcome. One of those is the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), which has become a species of conservation concern.

The bird, which ranges across the Great Basin, slipped in numbers to fewer than 200,000 as sagebrush-steppe habitat was lost to fire, development, and invasive species. Sage grouse chicks depend on the cover of sagebrush and other shrubs to hide from predators and they need the native forbs and insects that grow in these intact habitats for food.

Chick rearing is dependent on having a highly biodiverse plant community, says Kilkenny. So if your goal is to increase sage grouse habitat, you would want to try to use natives as much as possible. Post-fire habitats reseeded with crested wheatgrass lack ecological diversity and have been shown to be much lower in insect diversity, including pollinators, he says.

Helping to restore native plant communities in the sagebrush steppe provides both biological diversity and structural diversity which will be key to boosting numbers for the greater sage-grouse.

Maintaining biodiverse plant communities is important not just in the Great Basin, of course, but everywhere we want healthy ecosystems.

Native plants have co-evolved with native pollinators like bees. The whole system of life depends on the plants and the complexity of the native species that are locally adapted to that area, says Williams, of the California Native Plant Society.

Biodiversity and healthy native plant communities will also be even more important as a warming climate changes the world around us.

What people are pushing these days is to have resilient systems, she says. And the basis of a resilient system is a diverse system.

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Reseeding after Wildfire Often Does More Harm than Good - Earth Island Journal