Critical Gaps in NYS and Mid-Atlantic Region Native Seed Strategy
Over my 40 years of deep involvement in the native plant movement, I have witnessed huge progress towards the ultimate goal of a sustainable native seed supply chain, in which supply chains effectively serve diverse seed demand in a way that integrates with, and enhances, local ecosystems. A reliable system is essential to serve heightening demand and preserve ecosystems in wildfire and flood zones, in and along public parks and highways, and amongst homeowners, developers, and the growing array of native plant and seed consumers re-greening our communities.
What I find lacking in all of these developments is the creation of a framework within which a supply chain can be built. Many states, including New York where I live and work, have been busy passing legislation demanding the use of natives[1] – but they have barely started to address the question of how to actually build a supply chain to meet that growing demand. It is essential that legislation provide for the centralized management of a comprehensive strategic framework that includes 1) prescriptive seed lists per ecoregion; 2) aggregated assessment of the demand; 3) effective communication links between the supply and demand sectors; 4) reliable and sufficient seed supplies; and (5) adequate technical support of suppliers.
Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank’s mission is to address these needs. We realize that providing adequate seed for production is a dead-end without the other components of the supply chain developed and functioning. Towards that end, MARSB is implementing a program to provide an essential framework for the Mid-Atlantic region from Virginia to New York.
1) Seed lists
Using actual distributional plant data—further identified by ecoregions, habitats, and moisture regimes—MARSB is developing comprehensive lists of common workhorse species for each of the seven states in the Mid-Atlantic region. For New York State, we have developed 42 lists and embedded them in a map-based decision matrix that allows anyone to access a list of species suited to their needs. Prescriptive lists allow for the development of a common set of species around which supply and demand can organize. Out of the thousands of species native to New York, we have identified 136 species that, if made widely and commercially available, could meet the most basic demand as embodied in these lists. Focusing demand is essential to developing a workable framework around which supply can start to be met.2)
2) Assessing demand
Commercial growers also need a clearer picture of demand. In my participation in the National Academy of Sciences’ (NAS) assessment of seed supply[2], we interviewed many growers who said that a weak, fragmented, and untimely picture of need prevented them from meeting that need, and just as crucial, from making important decisions about their own business model and what species to grow. NAS recommended that agencies engage in producing detailed five-year projections of their needs. MARSB embraces that recommendation and is working to create a Mid-Atlantic Online Marketplace, where detailed demand information will be displayed in real time. Such a marketplace would enable growers to make better production decisions and serve as a forum for suppliers and consumers to communicate directly. We will actively work with the largest consumers to assess their needs in order to build a truly representative picture of demand as it exists.
3) Establishing reliable supplies
In order to meet demand, growers at various scales of production must be incentivized to participate. Large, well-established growers have the experience and economy of scale to produce many of the species needed in large quantities, but many other species are needed, often in quantities too small, for sale in too limited a market, or too difficult to grow to fit the larger growers’ business models. MARSB is frequently contacted by individuals eager to join the native plant marketplace but who lack the know-how. MARSB’s program will provide technical support to new commercial growers to enter the marketplace, sustain their businesses, and cultivate reliable diverse seed supplies.
I am encouraged by the growing focus on native plant materials among legislatures and businesses. Simultaneously, I am concerned that without more strategy baked into these legislative and marketplace initiatives, the supply chain will remain largely underdeveloped and inadequate to meet ever increasing and critical demand. Centralized coordination of a full supply chain, with a regional perspective, like that of MARSB, is critical to translate legislation and demand into impact.
[1] Legislation Assembly Bill A2122A, establishes the Garden Protection Act https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/A2122/amendment/A ; Senate Bill S7849, Establishes the native plant seed supply, development and enhancement program, December 2024 (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S7849); Senate Bill S2162 (pending) Enacts the "pollinator promotion act" to promote the health and viability of pollinators in the state, 2025-2026 Legislative Session (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S2162) ; Senate Bill S1690A (pending) Establishes the New York native plants program, 2025-2026 Legislative Session (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S1690/amendment/A).
[2] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. An Assessment of Native Seed Needs and the Capacity for Their Supply: Final Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26618.