As projects go, this one was truly ground-breaking.
For the last five years, volunteers from across the state collected seeds from native plants growing along local roads.
Then, with the help of the U.S. Forest Service and other government agencies, they planted these seeds in a special farm in the Francis Marion National Forest. The seeds grew into plant plugs that were replanted in the state's national forests.
The program is now considered a national model that some think could help solve a growing problem: The spread of invasive plants.
The seed program sprang from a conversation six or seven years ago, said Bill Stringer, a Clemson University agriculture professor and leader of the Upstate chapter of the S.C. Native Plant Society.
"We're pretty doggone passionate about native plants, so one day six or seven years ago, one of our fellows was talking to a soil scientist with the Forest Service and asked why they didn't use native grasses to revegetate areas. The soil scientist said they didn't have a supply of native seeds."
The problem with nonnative species, Stringer explained, is "that they're often invasive. You plant them in an area and then they move out of that area and take over habitat." Kudzu is perhaps the most infamous invasive plant in the South.
Stringer said many areas in the national forest are dug up and disturbed during logging and other activities. "We said, 'If you guys come up with some money to grow them, we'll put together the volunteers to collect the native seeds."
Led by members of the South Carolina Native Plant Society, volunteers have since spent more than 800 hours hunting for seeds along roads in the Upstate, and just last weekend, along Steed Creek Road in the Francis Marion National Forest.
Seeds were then grown at the Forest Service's seed orchard at its Witherbee office near Huger. Tens of thousands of plugs have been re-planted in national forests, mostly in the Upstate where soil erosion is a more serious problem.
Volunteers first collected grass seeds but are now also hunting for wildflower seeds. Stringer said he hopes they'll create seed sources the state Transportation Department can use on its highway rights of way.
The program has been so successful that it's being copied across the Southeast. "There's a lot of interest nationally in restoring native plant communities," Stringer said. Last week in Atlanta, the S.C. Native Plant Society, U.S. Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service received the 2005 Regional Forester's Award for their work on the project.Charleston Post and Courier
