Oregon’s Native Plant Conservation Program Secures Genetic Heritage Through 2025 Seed Collections

Last Updated on February 2, 2026 by Tom Pratum

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of three articles describing the seed collection from at risk plant species accomplished by Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Native Plant Conservation Program and their partners in 2025. This first article gives a summary of the effort; the subsequent articles will detail survey efforts for two priority species: white meconella (Oregon fairy poppy) (Meconella oregana) and Ochoco lomatium (Lomatium ochocense).

The Oregon Department of Agriculture’s (ODA) Native Plant Conservation Program marked a significant milestone in 2025, successfully collecting seeds from twenty-five at-risk plant species across the state. This comprehensive conservation effort, supported by funding from House Bill 3409 (an energy efficiency and climate bill) and the Center for Plant Conservation (CPC), employed two seasonal staff members (Figure 1) who traversed thirteen Oregon counties to secure seeds from some of the state’s most vulnerable flora. Conservation seed collections serve as critical safeguards of genetic diversity, providing insurance against extinction events, source material for restoration projects, and research opportunities to understand species’ adaptive potential in changing environments. As habitat loss, climate change, and other anthropogenic pressures threaten plant populations, these ex-situ collections become increasingly vital for preserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem resilience.

The collection initiative (Table 1) spans from the coastal dunes of Coos and Curry counties to the volcanic ash formations of Leslie Gulch in Malheur County, demonstrating the program’s commitment to preserving the breadth of Oregon’s diverse botanical heritage. With all necessary state and federal permits secured, the team was able to gather specimens from Benton, Coos, Crook, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Lincoln, Malheur, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco, and Washington counties.

This effort represents ODA’s contribution to a larger CPC initiative targeting 220 conservation collections from 130 priority species threatened on Department of Interior (DOI) lands across the intermountain, southwest, and Pacific Northwest regions. ODA will collect twenty-six of the fifty-nine Oregon plants identified for CPC collection during 2025 and 2026 (Figures 2, 3), focusing on rare species ranked S1-S3 by NatureServe indicating their critically imperiled to vulnerable status. ODA collection efforts across both years will include ten endemic plants and nine taxa with no previously banked seed.

Figure 2: ODA seasonal staff visited nearly all occurrences of elegant fawn-lily (coast range fawn-lily) (Erythronium elegans), shown in flower (left) and in seed (right). Left photo taken May 28, 2025, by Dani Marshall. Right photo taken July 31, 2025, by Brooke Morrow.

Figure 3: Seed collection of large-flowered goldfields (Lasthenia ornduffii) in Curry County (left) where it grows intermixed with seashore lupine (coastal lupine), (Lupinus littoralis), and is shown in flower and fruit (right). Left photo taken July 22, 2025, by Belle Adolf. Right photo taken July 7, 2025, by Dani Marshall.

The dual funding sources enabled complementary collection strategies that maximized conservation impact across different land jurisdictions. The CPC collections specifically targeted species on DOI lands—properties managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and National Park Service—while HB 3409 funding supported early implementation of the Oregon Native Seed Strategy ‘s Goal 4, which focuses on conservation seed banking for priority sensitive species. This broader mandate allowed ODA to extend collections beyond federal DOI lands to include Oregon State Parks and U.S. Forest Service properties, proving especially crucial for conserving threatened species with little to no existing seed bank representation regardless of land ownership.

Following CPC’s Best Plant Conservation Practices, collectors aimed to gather seeds from fifty maternal lines per population to capture sufficient genetic diversity while never harvesting more than 10% of available seed. While securing collections from multiple sites was preferred, species with few populations or small population sizes necessitated limiting collections to avoid impacting dwindling populations.

Beyond the core conservation collections, the ODA crew also conducted extensive surveys to better understand the status and distribution of several priority species. For white meconella (Meconella oregana), we surveyed multiple known and historic populations through the Columbia Gorge to assess population health. We also brought together a collaborative team of ODA, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service employees to survey for Ochoco lomatium (Lomatium ochocense) across its limited range. Perhaps most intensive was our Tygh Valley milkvetch (Astragalus tyghensis) work, where we partnered with the Oregon Department of Transportation to survey four large occurrences in highway rights-of-way. These comprehensive surveys aimed to determine the true distribution and abundance of Tygh Valley milkvetch, providing data to inform monitoring strategies and assess whether permanent transects should be established for long-term population tracking.

The ODA team also collected rare-plant seeds as part of ongoing federally funded projects and mitigation efforts (see bottom of Table 1). This included seed collection for two federally endangered plants: Applegate’s milkvetch (Astragalus applegatei) and rough popcornflower (Plagiobothrys hirtus), both of which have been the focus of ODA recovery actions for several years. These collections can provide critical genetic material for population augmentation and reintroduction efforts and help meet key down- and de-listing recovery criteria.

These conservation collections represent more than botanical specimens—they are insurance policies against extinction, climate change adaptation resources, and potential sources for future restoration efforts. As Oregon’s native plant communities face mounting pressures from external threats, the ODA Native Plant Conservation Program’s 2025 collections will ensure these remarkable species remain part of Oregon’s natural legacy for generations to come. – Dani Marshall, ODA Conservation Biologist