05/01/2026
Great information.
WILDFLOWER ETHICS — RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP
Wildflower and native plant gardens have become increasingly popular and seeds are easy to find in most nursery stores and garden centers. Landscaping with these plants has many benefits including creating a habitat for many different animals, especially pollinators. Native plants are often recommended for drought-tolerant landscapes in Spokane County because they have adapted to our arid climate in Eastern Washington. But there is a dark side to the increased awareness of wildflowers. As interest has increased, hunting and removing these plants from their natural habitats has increased. Done responsibility, this activity can be fun and rewarding, but a few chronic offenders are harvesting these wonderful plants to extinction!
The U.S. Forest Service is reporting an increase wildflower poaching resulting in some species that are now listed as endangered. Before you gather flowers, seeds, or entire plants in the wild be aware that removing any part of a plant may have consequences to an entire ecosystem. According to the Forest Service, “some pollinators are not very mobile or have a very small home range or depend on just one species of plant and die once their habitat has been destroyed.” To make matters worse, many wild and native plants will not grow in the typical garden. For example, the Arrowleaf balsamroot plant pictured below has a long taproot making it almost impossible to transplant, and propagating by seed rarely works because the plant requires poor soil conditions rarely found in managed landscapes.
The good news is there are legal and ethical ways to collect wild and native plants and seeds from national forests that will work in a home landscape. But first, it pays to invest in a little research. Some seed collecting on USFS land requires a permit, so it is important to do your homework before leaving home. Permit types and fees vary depending on several factors and the rules and process can be different depending upon location.
Here are two links to learn more:
USFS WILDFLOWER PERMITS
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/ethics/permit.shtml
USFS WILDFLOWER ETHICS
https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/wildflowers/ethics
Repost MBS, Master Gardener
