Since 1989, an interagency agreement between the National Park Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service has led to an exchange of technical information and the development of park indigenous plant materials, new seed /plant propagation technologies and revegetation methodologies.

The highly successful program continues to provide assistance to National Parks through NRCS Plant Materials Centers (PMC) to: identify plant species needed; collect and process native seed; provide high quality custom grown container plants and field production of native forb and grass seed from site specific collections; ensure genetic integrity; provide technical assistance on site preparation, plant propagation and establishment, weed control, seed collection and processing.

Invasive plant species control is one of the many challenges the National Park Service faces. The assistance and plant materials the NRCS Plant Materials Program provides is helping NPS meet those challenges, goals and objectives.

In the past 15 years the program has: assisted over 45 National Parks under 105 interagency agreements in cooperation with twelve Plant Materials Centers (PMC); tested over 1400 native species and developed successful propagation techniques for more than 700 species; produced approximately 31,000 PLS pounds of grass/forb seed and 800,000 tree/shrub seedlings; developed computer tools and a guide to assist in cost estimation, seeding rate/mixture and specification development; and developed an NPS revegetation intranet website.

Propagation protocols developed from research by the Park Service and PMCs have been placed on an interagency website (http//nativeplantnetwork.org) for access by agencies, nurseries, seed producers and the general public.

The presentation will describe the development of the interagency program, revegetation technical assistance and indigenous plant materials that can be provided; major program accomplishments and a few case studies.