Seedlings provide habitat restoration and education
The “Sagebrush in Prisons Project” is a collaborative
project between The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Idaho Department of
Corrections, Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE) and the Sustainability in
Prisons program. The Project allows inmates at ISCC to participate in habitat restoration
projects by growing the sage brush seedling inside the correction facility. These seedlings go to areas that are effected
by wildfire, to help restore habitat for wildlife, especially the greater sage-grouse.
Since April, inmates have tended to over 36,000 sage-brush
seedlings for the Twin Falls District BLM Fuels Program. This includes
fertilizing, watering and thinning. Once the seedlings were ready for planting,
the group carefully extracted all the plants from the grow containers and
properly packed them for transport. Each seedling must be hand packaged in
order to ensure live plants will be delivered.
ISCC’s Wyoming Big sage-brush seedlings are a part of a
sage brush steppe restoration project planting near the BLM managed portions of
Craters of the Moon National Monument. The plants will provide critical habitat
components, such as food and cover, for sage-grouse and many other wildlife
species.
This ongoing
project will continue to provide seedlings to the BLM as well as hands-on
learning for inmates.
For more information contact: Danelle Nance 208.732.7220. Follow
us on Facebook at BLM Idaho or Twitter, BLM Idaho Fire #TFDFire !
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