Editor's Note:
This issue of Greener Roadsides serves as the conference proceedings for the 2001 conference, Seeds For the Future. On April 18-20, some 150 attendees converged in Orlando. They included: Departments of Transportation, Federal, State, and local agencies, researchers, native seed producers, farmers looking for alternative crops, and related vendors. The conference was based on the fact that the demand for regionally adapted native wildflower and grass seed exceeds the supply due to changes in law, land management strategies, and a conservation ethic. The gap between supply and demand delays projects, frustrates contractors, increases erosion control costs, delays habitat restoration, complicates wildfire revegetation, and generally slows many conservation efforts nationally. Pressure has increased due to improving technical information, changing local, State and Federal policies, reflecting public interest, and expanding support of ecological approaches in land management. The conference intent was to stimulate an emerging industry, native seed production, by sharing current market needs, and know-how. What follows are excerpts and summaries of the conference presentations.