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The worldwide decline in bee populations is threatening the delivery of pollination services, thus leading to the development of pollinator restoration strategies. In the United States, one way to protect and restore bee populations is to use seed mixes composed of pollinator-friendly native plants to revegetate federal lands following disturbance.

Scientists assessed the attractiveness and use by bees of 24 native plant species that are standard for revegetation projects (focal plants) on national forest lands in western Montana.

The National Seed Strategy is a collaboration between 12 federal agencies and over 300 non-federal partners associated with the Plant Conservation Alliance and led by the Bureau of Land Management, facilitates coordination among tribal, state, federal, local and private entities, including commercial growers. The National Seed Strategy fosters interagency collaboration to guide the development, availability, and use of seed needed for timely and effective restoration. See progress reports, fact sheets and other publications related to this restoration initiative.

The Plant Conservation Alliance, a coalition of federal agencies and their Tribal, state and non-governmental partners with the goal to protect and restore resilient native plant communities, released a five-year progress report detailing coordinated efforts to increase the pace, quality and scale of native seed development and use in restoration efforts across our Nation.

Resilient native plant communities protect America’s lands, mountains, streams, vulnerable coastal communities and infrastructure from the effects of climate change and extreme weather events. Native plants are key to a restoration economy that engages our next generation of farmers, conservation professionals, scientists and land managers.
See related resource: National Seed Strategy

Kick the invasive exotic gardening habit by planting native plant alternatives. Provides native plant recommendations for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Use this infographic resource to learn which pollinator -attractive plants are native to your region.

Bees are declining in the U.S. and with them the pollination services on which people and wildlife depend. Several national forests have begun to include habitat restoration for bees in their forest plans. Justin Runyon, a Rocky Mountain Research Station research entomologist, and Montana State University scientists identified the most pollinator-friendly plants to include in seed mixes for use in restoration projects in the Northern Rockies.

The researchers developed a scorecard that managers can use to select pollinator-friendly mixes based on local factors such as budget, habitat type, or plant availability.

The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories. The database includes names, checklists, automated tools, identification information, species abstracts, distributional data, crop information, plant symbols, plant growth data, plant materials information, plant links, references, and other plant information. The PLANTS database contains native and naturalized plants of the PLANTS Floristic Area (PFA), which consists of North America and all additional U.S. territories and protectorates.
Note: The Invasive/Noxious Weeds data in the previous PLANTS version were outdated and not migrated to the new PLANTS version (new site launched in Spring 2021). A new PLANTS Invasive/Noxious Weeds dataset has been developed and will be deployed to PLANTS in a later release.

A guide to selecting native plants desired by native bees. This framework can be used to assess pollinator friendliness of native plant species for forests, public lands, and other areas.

The use of native plant material in conservation, restoration and land management results in healthy ecosystems countering the effects of invasive plant species, altered wildfire regimes, extreme weather events and human-caused events. The National Seed Strategy for Rehabilitation and Restoration 2015-2020 promotes the use of native plant materials to restore plant communities and support healthy ecosystems.
See related resource: National Seed Strategy