French Flat Ecological Restoration Project
French Flat is a 656 acre tract of land in the Illinois Valley composed of a complex of open meadows, oak/ash woodlands, and conifer forests. The Area is managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and in 1995 it was designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) to protect a range of unique qualities, including incredibly unique serpentine-adapted valley bottom plant communities.
Over the years this unique landscape has been impacted by excessive infilling of woody vegetation due to fire exclusion, invasion of exotic annual species due to excessive grazing and other disturbances, or complete conversion to urban or agricultural development. French Flat currently hosts three sensitive plant species which are threatened by the loss or degradation of regional grassland habitat: Calochortus howellii, Limnanthes gracilis var. gracilis, and the federally endangered Lomatium cookii.
The Understory Initiative is working with the BLM to:
Survey the project area for populations of sensitive species
Delineate management units and develop management recommendations for areas of French Flat that do not already have a management plan in place
Prioritize native species for seed collection and grow-out prior to restoration actions
Wild collect seed from priority species to enable future grow-out
Lay out priority management units to ensure that thinning and/or burning treatments meet the recommended prescriptions
Perform initial monitoring of plant communities at French Flat using a repeatable protocol so that changes in composition can be quantified before and after restoration activities occur.
Organize and oversee several public education oriented events such as guided wildflower hikes, tours of areas prioritized for restoration activities, and/or wild seed collection events.
Cook’s lomatium (Lomatium cookii)
