Haleigh Holgate26 years old, advances in the plains of the San Luis National Refuge by scrutinizing the land carefully. Under the Californian sun, this expert in environmental sciences does not seek hidden treasures but something equally precious: seeds of native plants. As responsible for the collection for Heritage Growershis work represents the first ring of a fundamental chain for the ecological future of the state.
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California has set itself an ambitious goal: keep 30% of its territory by 2030. However, as highlighted by Guardian In a recent report, this plan clashes with one structural deficiency of native seedsinsufficient to meet the growing needs of restoration projects. The demand clearly exceeds the available offer.
The Holgate team follows over 1,600 kilometers per week, visiting dozens of sites from Central Valley up to the county of Kern. Days that start at dawn and continue until the heat becomes unsustainable. “Each collected seed will have an impact on the restoration sector for decades,” explains the young expert as he distinguishes apparently identical but genetically different species.
The work follows rigid ethical protocols: never take more than 20% of the seeds available on a site. Once collected, the seeds must reach the Heritage Growers farm in Colusa within 48 hours, a property of 845 hectares where the amplification process begins. Here they are dried, clean and analyzed in the laboratory before being cultivated to produce others. A process that can take years but that has already brought the organization to produce over 14,500 kg of per year from more than 200 different varieties.
The results of this work are tangible: the Heritage Growers seeds contributed to the Renaissance of the Klamath river after the removal of a historic dam, reporting Asclepiada on its banks that attract pollinators and Lemmon needle grass that nourishes small mammals and birds. A crucial intervention in a state that has seen 75% of the native vegetation transform over the past two centuries.
But environmental restoration also has a deep cultural dimension. “Our languages and traditions are all linked to the landscape,” he explained Austin Stevenotmember of the Mewuk tribe. TO Dos reosfuture state park, an area has been dedicated to native communities to collect plants necessary for the traditional intertwining of the baskets. “It means restoring space to people to freely express their culture,” he added.
For Holgate, the work goes far beyond the salary. Its connection with the territory is so profound that sometimes dreams of the plants it monitors during the day. “I know that when I dream of a certain species, I should control that population,” he confessed. “It is much more than a simple restoration of the territory. It is a restoration for people.”
