The District has a two-tier seed provenance system for purchase consideration of native plant material. First-Tier priority is given to species with origins (provenance) from locations within the attached range map. Any seed that does not originate from the defined First-Tier Zone may be considered for purchase at the District’s discretion as long as vendor provides the seed’s geographic location (County & State) and mile distance from Lake County in the “Notes” column found in the contract’s Schedule of Prices. The First-Tier seed provenance includes the following counties: Illinois: Bureau, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Coles, Cook, De Witt, DeKalb, Douglas, DuPage, Edgar, Ford, Fulton, Henderson, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kendall, Knox, La Salle, Lake, Lee, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Marshall, McDonough, McHenry, McLean, Menard, Mercer, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Piatt, Putnam, Rock Island, Sangamon, Schuyler, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Vermilion, Warren, Will, Winnebago, Whiteside, and Woodford counties. Wisconsin: Dane, Grant, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Kenosha, Lafayette, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Walworth, Waukesha, and Washington counties. Indiana: Adams, Allen, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, De Kalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Fountain, Fulton, Grant, Hamilton, Hendricks, Howard, Huntington, Jasper, Kosciusko, Lake, LaGrange, LaPorte, Madison, Marshall, Miami, Montgomery, Newton, Noble, Parke, Porter, Pulaski, Putnam, St. Joseph, Starke, Steuben, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Vermillion, Wabash, Warren, Wells, White, and Whitley counties. Iowa: Buchanan, Cedar, Clinton, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Jackson, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Louisa, Muscatine, and Scott counties. 1. Any seed received by the District that does not meet these Specifications will be rejected and returned at the Vendor’s expense. 2. All seed shall be guaranteed by the Vendor to be true to species name and variety. 3. The original (wild) source of seed shall be guaranteed within the specified Tier as entered on the Schedule of Prices. Preference will be given to seed with origins within Tier 1 as listed above. 4. All seed shall meet the following PLS and quality requirements: A. All species are requested on a PLS basis. PLS shall be defined as (purity) x (total germination). Total germination is defined as (germination + hard seeds + dormant seeds). TZ can be substituted in lieu of total germination if necessary. Vendors must indicate in their response if their seed is not available on a PLS basis. Copies of original seed tests from independent seed testing laboratories must be attached to the exterior of seed packaging when received by the District. B. Any seed that is not available by Vendors as PLS must still be tested for purity. The pure weight must total the amount ordered, with additional seed being supplied to meet 100% purity by bulk weight (e.g. 1.11 bulk pounds at 90% purity equals 1.00 pure pounds). C. All species with dispersal appendages (e.g. Asclepias, Liatris, Solidago, Symphyotrichum, etc.) are being requested on a “de-fluffed” (DF) basis. Vendor must indicate in their response if their seed is not available on a defluffed basis. Preference will be given to de-fluffed seed rather than bulk seed. D. All “hulled” species (e.g. Dalea, Desmodium, Lespedeza, etc.) are being requested on a de-hulled (DH) basis. Vendor must indicate in their response if their seed is not available on a de-hulled basis. Preference will be given to de-hulled seed rather than bulk seed. 5. Packaging for all species shall be clearly labeled on the outside with the following information: A. Scientific name of species B. Project name and/or number C. PLS value, PLS weight, and bulk weight D. Pure weight and bulk weight if seed is not available as PLS E. Seed tests must be attached to the packaging for all species at time of delivery F. Year of seed production and date of seed tests
