Partnerships

Partnerships and collaborations are a core part of Great Valley Seed’s portfolio. At GVS, we believe regional partnerships are vital to building the resilience of California’s Central Valley. Increased coordination and collaboration improves outcomes on the landscape through increased habitat connectivity and continuity. Partnerships also enable forward planning that allows GVS to build up the supply of the appropriate plant materials to support regional project needs. GVS is proud to be part of a long list of evolving partnerships, such as the examples listed below.

 

California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD)

CARCD received $19.41M from the Wildlife Conservation Board to expand monarch, pollinator and other wildlife habitat on public and private lands. GVS has partnered with CARCD to help ensure there will be appropriate native seed and plant materials available for individual RCDs to implement their habitat projects. Through the grant program, participating RCDs can receive up to 20% off of GVS plant materials. GVS is also available to help with species selection and collection efforts, with a focus on central and southern regions of California. For RCDs interested in learning more, please fill out our New Customer Form.

 

Almond Alliance

The Almond Alliance and GVS have partnered to launch a project called the Pollinator Alliance. GVS is developing native plant and seed supplies to make them easily accessible to California’s almond growers, with the goal of expanding pollinator habitat through this network of working farms. GVS also provides guidance on farmer-friendly implementation practices for pollinator habitat on working lands. Sign up here if you’re interested in integrating hedgerows, cover crops, pollinator strips, conservation cover, and/or habitat restoration on your farm.

 

Pollinator Partnership

GVS works with Pollinator Partnership on a number of projects, generally supporting its efforts to distribute native seed and plugs for pollinator habitat throughout the West. GVS provides plant materials for Monarch Wings Across the West(MWAW), formerly Monarch Wings Across California (MWAC), which is working to establish monarch research and habitat sites in California and Oregon for the western monarch butterfly. GVS also provides plant materials for working farms that are certified by Pollinator Partnership’s Bee Friendly Farming and farms that are looking to become certified.

 
 

Pheasants Forever 

GVS has partnered with Pheasants Forever to develop and supply custom seed kits focused on San Joaquin Valley species to increase habitat for pollinators and other native species. GVS supplies seed for a SJV Native Upland Habitat mix and two SJV Native Pollinator Mixes, one with a custom milkweed blend to support Monarch butterfly habitat.

 

Monarch Watch

GVS supplies milkweed plugs to various Monarch Watch programs in the West to support habitat restoration throughout California. Monarch Watch’s Milkweed Market is targeted towards home gardeners and local projects distributing smaller quantities of plugs throughout the region.  Through this partnership, GVS also supplies Monarch Watch with free milkweed plugs to support large-scale restoration projects through the Bring Back the Monarchs campaign. This partnership has distributed more than 75,000 milkweed plugs through our shared networks to date. Save the monarch migration - one butterfly at a time: plant milkweed!

 

Monarch Joint Venture

GVS supports Monarch Joint Venture’s Monarchs and More Western Habitat Initiative by supplying milkweed plugs for a portion of this program. This important initiative provides regionally specific seed mixes and milkweed plugs, with an increasing focus on working lands in California’s Central Valley and adjacent foothills. Applications for 2023 have closed, but you can fill out the 2024/2025 interest sheet for more information about upcoming opportunities.

 
 

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)

GVS worked with CDFW to create a 3-part educational workshop series about native plant materials for CDFW staff implementing habitat restoration and enhancement projects. The workshops covered the fundamentals of native seed collection, cleaning, and storage. GVS continues to work with regional and state partners on educational projects like this one.

 

Merced Subbasin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA)

The Department of Conservation’s MLRP program recently awarded a block grant to the Merced Subbasin GSA to address groundwater overdraft in the region. The project will be focused on land repurposing and the establishment of a wildlife habitat corridor between the Sierra Nevada and the Merced National Wildlife Refuge. As one of the grant partners, GVS will contribute to the development of restoration plans, plant species selection, and grow outs of local species in support of these projects.