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Alexandria, Va. (September 14, 2026) - The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) has released a first-of-its-kind report that provides a baseline assessment of native and locally adapted seed and plant material needs and capacity for Tribal communities. AIHEC led the study to survey Tribal Nations directly about their seed needs.
The report made possible through a contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that supports the National Seed Strategy (NSS), translates the assessment findings into practical guidance for delivering seed resources to Tribal communities for large-scale, seed-based ecological and habitat restoration. The report is designed to help the BIA and partnering agencies direct existing authorities, programs and resources toward the seed and plant material needs that Tribal Nations have identified.
"AIHEC is committed to conducting research that supports Tribal communities. This work is about Tribal sovereignty. Native seed and plant material give each Tribal Nation control over the restoration of its lands,” AIHEC President and CEO Ahniwake Rose pointed out.
The assessment finds that Tribal communities need:
· Seed-increase, cleaning, and storage capacity, and the infrastructure to move seed from collection to the ground:
· Equipment across the harvest, cleaning and storage workflow;
· A trained, funded workforce, a full operational team, not a single role;
· Reliable funding, with federal agency grants central to how Tribal Nations resource this work; and
· Science-based protocols that Indian Country can direct and adapt.
“This report and its companion packet go one step beyond the data. The larger issue is simple. Tribal Nations need their own seed to restore their own lands. Respondents work on desert, forest, prairie and coastal lands, including Alaska. Their answers make a clear case for the Tribal workforce and infrastructure to restore Tribal lands,” Rose added.
Based on the report’s findings, AIHEC recommends the following:
· Prioritize seed-increase, cleaning, and storage capacity
· Fund Tribally directed protocols modeled on BLM's Seeds of Success
· Establish a multi-year, tiered funding commitment scaled to documented needs
· Connect Tribal production to federal restoration demand across BLM, FWS, USFS and BIA
· Address coastal and relocation seed-sourcing needs
The companion packet, From Strategy to Action, gives Tribal staff practical steps to start now with existing federal programs. Together, the two documents turn strategy into action. A webinar “Seeds for Restoration: What Tribal Nations Need” will be held Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, register here.
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