though demand for seeds to restore lands burned by wildfire or wildlife habitat far outstrips the supply experts said in california there are more than 4000 seed collections through this program representing more than 1300 species of plants that covers about a fifth of the states known plant species according to the agency we have so much land to restore and not enough seeds to restore it all said katie heineman vice president of science conservation at the center for plant conservation this year however presents a golden opportunity for seed banking in california due to winter storms that drenched the state covered the mountains in snow and replenished rivers the chicago botanic garden for example has three times as many seed collectors in western states this year as last officials said more collections also are being made by bureau of land management crews in the mojave desert region the agency said one of the challenges in collecting seeds in this area is that its so vast and restoration is best achieved with plants from the same general location seeds previously collected by the land trust therefore wont necessarily be a fit for future restoration efforts after the york fire hanford said while the need for restoration isnt unique to the west the scale is much greater because of the size of the regions wildfires said kayri havens chief scientist at chicago botanic garden as our climate changes places we thought in the past we wouldnt have to restore were finding out we have to restore havens said the mojave desert now burns it was not a place that had wildfire problems 30 years ago