6-26-2026

Today, we went to this seed sorting place in Bend, Oregon, where we met Kayla Harriman, who is a National Seed Specialist for the Forest Service. She talked about how the Bend Seed Extractory works after botanists, foresters, tribal organizations, and land managers collect native plant material from the field. Instead of receiving clean seeds, the facility often receives cones, berries, seed heads, grasses, shrubs, flowers, and other plant material. Each collection is carefully labeled with information about where and when it was collected so the seeds can be used in the appropriate restoration projects. Once the material arrives, technicians examine it to determine the best way to remove the seeds. Since every plant species is different, there is no single process that works for every collection. Some seeds are removed by various machines in the facility, and it depends on what kind of seed it is. These machines separate the seeds from leaves, stems, cones, fruit pulp, and other debris without damaging the seed itself. She stated that each nursery is different, but most of them focus on conifer trees; the one here in Bend also does varieties of grasses, shrubs, and they have 4,000 different species in their facility. She did state that the Warm Springs tribe is one of their biggest collaborators, with collecting seed, and she has worked with the Umatilla nursery and with Gail, which was a fun little fact from today. 

After extraction, each seed lot goes through a series of quality tests. Staff measure seed purity, estimate the number of seeds per pound, determine how many seeds are fully developed, and check moisture levels. The test they do is different tests: 1. The % of purity, which is based on weight and how much is pure seed, 2. The % of what amount of the seed that is filled with tissue (Indicator of viability), 3. Seed per pound, 4. The % of equilibrium relative humidity, which means can they freeze the egg without destroying it? If necessary, the seeds are dried further before being packaged and placed into climate-controlled storage to preserve their viability for future use. The cleaned seeds are then returned to the agency that requested the work or stored until they are needed for restoration. We also met Cameron Stauder, who also works there. He helped with a demonstration of one of the machines, and he is the geneticist for them, and he helps figure out what plant is best for a given area. 

For the rest of the day, we will be here at the library and working on our blogs and posters, and anything else we need, and probably head back to camp to shower up and cook dinner. The library is pretty cool, and I am pretty sure they have just built it, and it's really nice. It has three levels, and how it was built is really cool. The second floor has an area just for children, and the third floor just has books, and they even have a little cafe. Their coffee is great. I got a caramel macchiato, but Judy did say their cold brew could be better. 

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