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About the Bismarck Plant Materials Center
Updated
08/25/2008
Established |
1954 |
Size |
148 Acres |
Land Ownership |
North Dakota
Association of Soil Conservation Districts, USFWS, ARS, ND Game and Fish
Department |
Operation |
NRCS |
This document requires Acrobat Reader
Bismarck Plant
Materials Center (brochure) (PDF; 207 KB)
Description of the PMC Service Area
The Bismarck PMC serves portions of the northern Great
Plains wheat region, western Great Plains range and irrigated region,
northern lake states forest and forage region, and the central seed grains
and livestock region. The areas of North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota
which the PMC services are commonly referred to as the "Northland". From the
high plains and prairies of the Dakotas to the corn belt and forests of
Minnesota, the Northland is a complex and productive area. People depend on
its cropland and rangeland for food and fiber, its coal and taconite mines
for energy and steel, its lakes and woods for recreation and serenity, and
its wetlands and open spaces for wildlife and beauty. However, satisfying
the demands people make on natural resources often causes erosion and other
environmental problems. Along with the right to use natural resources is the
responsibility to protect and restore the land. Plants are one of the best
tools for this job of conservation. Effective conservation plants must be
adaptable to the extremes of heat, cold, wind and drought in the northern
plains states.
Average annual precipitation varies from 15 inches in North Dakota to 30
inches in parts of Minnesota, with 75 percent of the total precipitation
received between April and September. Extreme fluctuations in annual
precipitation is common. Elevation ranges from 800 feet to 7,000 feet.
Temperatures fluctuate widely from -60 degrees to more than 100 degrees
Fahrenheit.
Major land uses are row cropping, grazing, pasture, hay land and mining.
The primary problems are wind and water erosion on cropland and pasture,
roadside erosion, stream bank erosion, lake shore erosion, degrading water
quality, and surface-mined land revegetation.
The Bismarck Plant Materials
Center is located in Bismarck, ND,
just south of the Bismarck Municipal
Airport on University Drive.
![Map to Bismarck Plant Materials Center](images/map_sm-NDPMC.jpg)
Elevation |
1,653 Feet |
Annual Precipitation |
15.37 Inches |
Frost Free Period |
135 Day (May 10 - September 22) |
Soil Type |
Mandan silt loam |
The Bismarck PMC operates
through an agreement with the North Dakota Association of Soil Conservation
Districts and the NRCS. The PMC has shared operations with the Lincoln-Oakes
Association of Soil Conservation Districts Nursery in Bismarck, ND, since
1954. The PMC coordinates its testing and release program with many state
and federal agencies, conservation district cooperators and commercial seed
and tree growers.
< Back to North Dakota Plant Materials Center
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