May 13, 2019

By Stacy Moore
Ecological Education Program, Institute for Applied Ecology
Wrapping his hand around a sagebrush plant, inmate Mr. Pence pulls the seedling out of its cone-tainer to check for root
growth. He is just one member of the sagebrush team at Oregon’s Warner Creek Correctional Facility (WCCF), completingthe full circle of a native plant’s life from seed to plant-out.
https://ser-insr.org/news/2019/5/13/restoring-habitat-and-hopeInmates at WCCF and eight other prisons in Idaho, Nevada, California, andWyoming are propagating sagebrush to help restore priority greater sagegrouse habitat that has been burned by wildfires on public lands managed
by the Bureau of Land Management. The greater sage-grouse, an iconic birdof the sagebrush steppe, has declined substantially across its historic
habitat. The great basin has lost approximately half its former sagebrushecosystem in recent decades. Invasive weeds create fire conditions thatburn large areas making it difficult to re-establish native plants. This, inturn, puts greater sage-grouse habitat at risk. Sagebrush does not recoverquickly after a fire, often taking 30 to 50 years to become reestablished.
Transplanting seedlings with a developed root system supplements reseeding efforts and gives sagebrush a head start over invasive cheatgrass.
Since 2014 the “Sagebrush in Prisons” program has out-planted over 1
million native plugs, mostly on federal lands, with support from the Bureauof Land Management’s Plant Conservation and Restoration Program.
Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE), a non-profit organization based inCorvallis, is overseeing the project in partnership with the BLM andDepartment of Corrections. The Winnemucca BLM District Office in Nevada
has received hundreds of thousands of sagebrush plugs grown by inmates.
The staff from the BLM district office commented:“The Winnemucca BLM District has benefited immensely from the seedling production. Our office is really impressedwith the quality of the sagebrush seedlings we received from the prisons. Seedling planting is an important step inachieving the healthy ecosystems we are working to restore. Sagebrush in Prisons makes acquiring this valuable tool
for landscape-level restoration a cost-effective reality”

https://ser-insr.org/news/2019/5/13/restoring-habitat-and-hopeThe inmates benefit as well. The projectencourages a stewardship ethic among people
who otherwise have little or no access tonature and science. By propagating andnurturing sagebrush and other plants needed
for restoration adults-in-custody gain
vocational skills in horticulture, problemsolving, team building, data collection, andecological restoration. The project also
provides an opportunity for incarcerated men
and women to give back to their community,
generates a sense of accomplishment, reduces
idleness and stress, offers refuge from thechaos and limitations of prison life, andincreases awareness about conservation
issues. As one participant this year stated:“It’s a great way to give back to our community. I feel it’s apositive project that not only teaches inmates teamwork anddedication, but it gives us a key to a brighter future. It
provides us with tools that may help us get a job. It also gives
us something to focus on and be proud of.”Starting at the end of April, inmate crews mix together peatmoss, vermiculite and perlite followed by carefully fillingcone-tainers with the soil mixture. Each inmate will thencarefully sprinkle 5-7 tiny sagebrush seeds on the soil surfaceof every cone-tainer. Throughout the summer they will
water, thin, and fertilize the seedlings while keeping a
https://ser-insr.org/news/2019/5/13/restoring-habitat-and-hopedetailed log of plant care - the results are healthy,robust plants. Come fall, adults in custody willremove the plants from the cone-tainers and gently
place them in bags to be boxed up for delivery. In
some instances, eligible inmates will leave theirprison facility during the day to out-plant theseedlings in their new habitat. These plants will
eventually provide critical habitat components, suchas food and cover, for greater sage-grouse andmany other wildlife species.
One inmate wrote eloquently about his involvementin the project:“The sagebrush program has been very good for mysoul. This project has done more than rescue thesage grouse, it has allowed us, men, to do and besomething positive. Through this project, men’s lives
begin to have worth; we see that we can be positive and benefit the world instead of bringing it down. Someone
smiling, and saying well done can move a man’s heart and give him back hope.”
Inmates at prison facilities also receive sustainability lectures from educators who come to the facility each month to discuss
topics such as green energy, beekeeping, mammals of the sagebrush steppe and other aspects of science or ecology. This
educator-prisoner interaction provides scientists with an underserved audience for their work, and prisoners withinformation they may not have had any access to in their lives.
Guest speaker, Marc Von Huene from Treasure Valley Beekeepers Association, had this to say about his experience entering
the prison environment:

https://ser-insr.org/news/2019/5/13/restoring-habitat-and-hope

“As I had never worked withinmates before I had to overcome
a lot of my preconceived ideas.
These are people that lost their
way for any number of reasons –bad influences, bad home life,
questionable friends.
Rehabilitation is absolutely thebest option. I’m glad I could play
my small part. I think giving theseguys something to nurture and beproud of is a great way to bringout the caring people from eachone of them.”
With funding support from the OregonCommunity Foundation, IAE added a newcomponent to the project in 2018. Local
middle school and high school students
from Paisley and Lakeview High School inrural Oregon participated in the planting
out process on an area affected by wildfire just outside their town. Students designed restoration experiments using
different fertilizers, mycorrhizae and various growth mediums. These same students will monitor their plants survival later
this spring.
For inmates serving time, the “Sagebrush in Prison Project” provides a needed opportunity to work outside and nurturehttps://ser-insr.org/news/2019/5/13/restoring-habitat-and-hopeliving things. For many it is the first time they have completed
something worthwhile and given back to society. A woman
inmate at South Boise Woman’s Correctional Center in Idaho
summed up the project with these words:“This program gets you out and about with a purpose. It is fareasier to stay out of trouble when you are busy. Growing
sagebrush gave me back some of the dignity and respect that you
lose when sentenced to do any time behind bars.”
If you want to know more or have questions, you may contact
Tom Kaye, Executive Director and Senior Ecologist at Institute forApplied Ecology

https://ser-insr.org/news/2019/5/13/restoring-habitat-and-hope