Resolution 2025-05
WHEREAS, there is a biodiversity crisis that threatens more than one-third of all species of wildlife and native plants in the United States and globally, and enacting science-based along with Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge solutions requires urgent attention so that wildlife and people can adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world; and
WHEREAS, declining species such as insects, pollinators, 96% of terrestrial birds, and many mammals rely on ecosystems and habitats comprised with plants native to the ecosystems within which they have co-evolved; and
WHEREAS, increasing natural disasters such as the 8.5 million acres burned by wildlife fires in the west in 2024 with an additional 57,665 acres burned in California in early 2025 and 6,500 acres across Maui in 2023, and Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton in 2024 affecting more than 6 million acres in the Southeastern US, can significantly deplete ecosystems and habitats across public and private lands; and
WHEREAS, natural and agricultural ecosystems continue to be converted to residential and other types of developed land cover for the foreseeable future; and
WHEREAS, about 40% of urban land cover in the U.S. consists of greenspace, including yards, parks, and remnant natural vegetation with potential to provide habitat for a variety of wildlife with the appropriate native plant restoration; and
WHEREAS, the necessary expansion of renewable energy infrastructure would be even more beneficial to natural systems if they include the establishment of native plants, to include native pollinator plants, as part of the infrastructure development; and
WHEREAS, utility rights of way are often long corridors connecting multiple habitats; native plants, to include native pollinator plants, would provide corridors and connection allowing wildlife to adapt to an ever-changing environment; and
WHEREAS, utility infrastructure developers often quote a lack of supply as an impediment to utilizing native seeds and native plants as part of their restoration and development plans; and
WHEREAS, the Seeds of Success program, a national native seed collection program led by the Bureau of Land Management, was established in 2001 to collect, conserve, and develop native plant materials for restoration and research; and
WHEREAS, the National Academy of Sciences cites that an insufficient supply of native seeds and plant materials is a major barrier to ecological restoration and other revegetation projects across the United States; and
WHEREAS, the horticultural industry continues to increase its production of non-native species, such as tropical milkweed and other nonnative plant material marketed as wildlife friendly, but lacking attributes with which wildlife has co-evolved; and
WHEREAS, local phenotypes of native plants vary greatly throughout the range of species, requiring multiple collection sites throughout the country to adequately represent and preserve the evolutionary breadth of relationships and genetic diversity; and
WHEREAS, National Wildlife Federation and select affiliates work with growers and seed networks to provide access and availability to native plants.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its annual meeting assembled June 3-6, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, supports efforts to sustain and increase native seed and plant supply to ensure a diverse supply of eco-regional appropriate, pesticide-free native plants, that acknowledges Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports the implementation of the recommendations in the National Academy of Sciences Assessment of Native Seeds and the Capacity for Supply and continued support of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Seeds of Success program; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation supports identifying opportunities through policy, market-based incentives, and state, regional, national, and Tribal collaborations to ensure native seed and plant supply are available nationwide.