An I-Team Investigation

You may have heard about an international project recently to store seeds deep in a mountain in Norway, just in case something catastrophic ever happens to Earth. The I-Team has discovered that there is a similar project right here in Alaska.

The I-Team has learned government scientists are growing plants and storing seeds on a farm in Palmer. They allowed CBS 11 News inside their operation to check it out.

"There they are. The lone rhubarb plants in here," said USDA geneticist Joe Kuhl.

They look like something growing in your backyard; but these rhubarb plants are a crucial part of a government effort at keeping food crops from going extinct.

Scientists in Palmer are keeping track of 50 varieties.

"It's like different kinds of apples. But you have different kinds of rhubarb. Some are more acidic. Some are sweeter," said Kuhl.

This is one of only about 20 sites in the entire country where the government is growing plants and then storing seeds in a room kept very cold. A smaller version of the giant doomsday seed vault was recently opened deep in a mountain in Norway. The goal is to make sure that we'll have seeds to produce food, if the Earth ever faces a catastrophe of global proportions.

In Palmer, scientists are also doing research. For instance, they have berry plants that were sent from Corvallis, Oregon. Kuhl wants to see how well they produce berries in the Alaskan climate.

Sometimes he's not sure exactly what he's got in his biological archive. So, like with the hair grass that the facility has revitalized, Kuhl is trying to bring them to life.

"Looking at, hair grass tends to have really rough leaves. And so you can identify it through the little ripples and ridges on the leaf itself," said Kuhl.

Back in the lab, Kuhl showed us hundreds, maybe even thousands, of grass seeds that he's storing--which made us wonder:

    What's
    the big deal about grass?

"The study in the greenhouse with the hair grass is we're particularly interested in the possibility of using some of the genetic diversity in our collection to contribute to turf grass development and breeding," said Kuhl.

Kuhl is looking at how they do with lots of shade and just a little water.

"That's of great interest to the turf industry," said Kuhl.

    ...meaning Kuhl's work could be coming to a lawn or sports stadium near you.

You don't think of Alaska as being an agricultural state, but scientists say we have an estimated 20 million acres of potential farmland. However, there's little research about agriculture in climates as cold as ours, which is part of the mission of the site in Palmer.

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If you have a story for the I-Team that you want me to look into, you can call the I-Team hotline number at 273-3111.