At Wild Ones, we’re dedicated to connecting people and native plants. Our Native Plant News blog delivers the latest stories on native plant conservation, scientific discoveries, and habitat restoration from across the nation. This monthly, volunteer-written feature is designed to educate, engage, and inspire action, empowering readers to support biodiversity and promote sustainable landscaping with native flora.
Minnesota: House Passes Bill to Overturn Mining Ban Near Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
A bill clearing the way for mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) passed by the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month and is now on its way to the Senate.
Located in the Superior National Forest, the 1.1 million-acre BWCAW is a popular destination for anglers, paddlers, and other outdoor enthusiasts. This area is also attractive to the Chilean-owned mining conglomerate, Antofagasta, and its Minnesota-based subsidiary, Twin Metals, which has been trying to get permits to mine near BWCAW for over a decade. The bill overturns a 20-year ban passed in 2023 after 6 years of public comments, where 98% of comments supported long-term protection for the BWCAW watershed.
BWCAW and the Superior National Forest is home to wetlands and small microhabitats that rare plants inhabit, including those usually found in arctic and subarctic climates. That includes species like meadow sedge (Carex praticola), rough-fruited fairy bells (Prosartes trachycarpa), Canada yew (Taxus canadensis), blunt-fruited sweet cicely (Osmorhiza depauperata), maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes), large-leaved sandwort (Moehringia macrophylla), encrusted saxifrage (Saxifraga paniculata), Michigan moonwort (Botrychium michiganense), purple reedgrass (Calamagrostis purpurascens), Rocky Mountain woodsia (Woodsia scopulina), and sticky locoweed (Oxytropis viscida).
The Senate vote to overturn the mining ban is expected the week of February 23rd, 2026.
Hidden gems: Rare flora of the Superior National Forest-QueticoSuperior.org
Michigan: Race to Protect a Disappearing Ecosystem
The Michigan Land Conservancy is trying to raise $6 million to save Sibley Prairie: 440 acres of untouched land and the last and highest quality lakeplain prairie found in Michigan
Lakeplain prairies are what remains of glacier-carved lake beds. Once glaciers receded thousands of years ago, silt and other fine materials were left behind, forming a layer that is completely impermeable to water. This means the area floods with the spring rains and is dry during the summer. “We have a unique plant community because it has to tolerate both flooding in the springtime and extreme drought in the summer,” Jeff Vornhagen, with Michigan Botanical Society, said. “This corridor is considered globally unique because there’s only one plant species that occurs here.”
Sibley Prairie is currently owned by Fritz Enterprises Inc. and is currently up for auction. The Michigan Land Conservancy has an opportunity to purchase the land after convincing the company to hold off for a year. They will have until 2026 to raise the $6 million to purchase the land.
Save Sibley Prairie: Coalition wants to preserve rare grassland in Wayne County-Fox2Detroit.com
Illinois Charts New Ground With Nation’s First Rewilding Law
The Illinois Rewilding Law went into effect in 2026, an effort pushed by Illinois state leaders in response to scaled-back federal wetland protections.
This law was spurred after the Supreme Court reduced wetland protection in 2023 (Sackett vs. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA]) and the EPA made changes to its Waters of the United States rule last year that removed even more protections. Illinois leaders plan to make their 563,000 acres of unprotected wetlands a top priority and are now trying to pass the Wetlands Protection Act. This would give the Illinois Department of Natural Resources authority over wetland permits on private land before construction.
“When we see removal of wetlands and native prairies, that’s where we see incredible flood damage, stormwater runoff and backup and a lot of damage to homes and human life and major flood events,” according to Lindsay Keeney, conservation director of the Illinois Environmental Council. Climate change is causing flooding to happen more often.
Virginia Moves to Strengthen Rules Against Invasive Species
The state of Virginia is taking steps aimed at slowing the spread of invasive plant species. The measures would tighten restrictions on harmful plants, limit their sale and transport, and strengthen rules and management options. Supporters say the changes are designed to protect native ecosystems before invasive species cause further damage. This is on the heels of a bill that passed last year that required 39 invasive species to be clearly labeled as invasive when sold in the state.
Bill HB88 would require the Commonwealth Transportation Board to control invasive plant species on highway rights-of-way. This bill would also ensure that invasive species are not planted along the roads. SB 89 and HB 388, which recently passed their respective chambers, empower local service districts to manage invasives. HB 109 removes the exclusion of commercially viable plants from noxious weed designation, allowing the noxious weed rule to be applied to any invasive plant species that can significantly harm the environment, economy, or public health.
Virginians can support these bills by telling their legislators to vote yes.
Bill highlights: Stopping the spread of invasive plants-EnvironmentAmerica.org
Nevada: Lawsuit Aims to Block Controversial Mining Project
The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Amargosa Conservancy is suing the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to stop mining exploration near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge by St. Cloud Mining.
The drilling is near populations of the Amargosa niterwort (Nitrophila mohavensis), Ash Meadows gumplant (Grindelia fraxino-pratensis), and spring-loving centaury (Zeltnera namophila), three rare plants protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The lawsuit alleges that the BLM ignored requirements to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) about the project’s threats to the rare plants, which is a violation of the ESA.
The lawsuit also claims that mining could disrupt the groundwater system, alter the hydrology of the area, and drain the springs and wetlands that sustain the rare plants. The Ash Meadows waters are also sacred to the Timbisha who use the springs and wetlands for sustenance, healing, and spiritual practice.
Rare Ash Meadows plants at center of lawsuit to overturn BLM approval for exploratory drilling-8NewsNow.com
Population Crashes Leave a Genetic Trace
Plant populations that have experienced population crashes carry a “genetic memory” which can shape survival and how species bounce back, according to researchers at McGill University and the United States Forest Service.
This study, focusing on how jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) responded to disturbance over time, found differences in genetic structure depending on the plant population’s past: whether it was founded by only a few individuals or reestablished after disturbance. Populations that experienced less disturbance and fewer population crashes (“bottlenecks”) had higher genetic diversity, lower inbreeding levels, and thoroughly reshuffled recombination genomes. In contrast, populations with more severe bottlenecks and those that had less time to recover had reduced diversity, higher inbreeding levels, and genomes that were less recombined. Since genetic diversity helps species adapt to stresses such as climate change and disease, this has important implications for habitat restoration efforts.
Plants retain a ‘genetic memory’ of past population crashes, study shows-Phys.org
Daniel J. Schoen et al, Population genomic signatures of founding events in autonomously self‐fertilizing plants: a test with Impatiens capensis, New Phytologist (2026). DOI: 10.1111/nph.70880
Safeguarding Seeds From a Critically Endangered Habitat
The Garry oak (Quercus garryana) ecosystem is critically endangered in Canada and the Pacific Northwest due to land development, climate change, wildfires, and invasive species leaving only 5% remaining. A seed bank is being created to preserve these seeds to repopulate this important ecosystem.
Collecting and preserving the seeds will be accomplished through a partnership with Nupqu Native Plant Nursery, the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, University of British Columbia (UBC) Botanical Gardens, and the Coastal Douglas fir Conservation Partnership. The cold storage seed banks will be at the Nupqu Native Plant Nursery in Cranbrook and the UBC Botanical Gardens. The goal is to prevent species extinction, preserve genetic diversity, and provide a seed source for potential restoration of degraded landscapes, as well as maintain Indigenous harvest areas and sustain biodiversity.
Collection has already begun in the Garry oak ecosystems with 12,000 seeds from seven species collected to date.
Native plant seeds from critically endangered Garry Oak ecosystems to be preserved-VancouverSun.com