The journey begins. I, Emily Capelin, am finishing my third week in Anchorage, Alaska working with the BLM as well as the Alaska Natural Heritage Center through the University of Alaska Anchorage. Our mission is collecting seeds for restoration of lands damaged by fire, mines, and oil and gas pipeline construction. These past three weeks have been spent in preparation for the grand adventures to come. We’ve been in the office applying for collection permits and calling other regional BLM offices about using their research facilities. We’re planning trips all over the state for seed collection. And, best of all, we’ve been traipsing through the wilds of Alaska scouting around in plant communities, looking at progress of seeds and locations of certain plant species whose seeds we want to collect later.

My mentor Mike Duffy, on the left, and botanists from the Plant Materials Center in Alaska. We're on top of The Butte in the Matanuska River Valley, looking for a rare Pasqueflower.

Mike Duffy and a botanist friend looking for plants in the Matanuska Valley. Pioneer Peak looms in the background. We found lots of Chamerion angustifolium, Cerastium, Artemisia frigida, and Oxytropis.

We have made our first seed collection this week, gathering some 9 thousand seeds of Viola adunca, a beautiful deep purple violet. Exciting to have and hold something solid! I’ve been lucky, to spend the long days of the Alaskan summer (right now, we have about 19 hours of daylight!) amongst flowers and vast landscapes. My famed Botanist mentor Mike Duffy and I have been hiking along a glacial river bar looking for a rare species of native Clematis. We’ve walked through immense fields of Lupinus nootkatensis (Nootka Lupine) beneath the high peaks of the Chugach Mountains, and climbed a small mountain in search of Artemisia frigida and an elusive Pasqueflower. And I’ve seen Brown Bears and a river otter! All for the mighty purpose of establishing seed banks that provide anyone with the means of revegatating damaged lands with native seeds. A worthy goal. I am honored and elated to be a part of the project.

Alaska's Wild Rose species, Rosa nutkana