美国野人自然景观有限公司（Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes）是经美国国税局认证的 501(c)(3) 非营利环保教育与倡导组织，1977 年由九位发起人创立于威斯康星州密尔沃基市，总部现设于同州尼纳市的”野人中心”（WILD Center）。组织以”将人与本土植物相连，建设健康的地球”为使命，长期面向公众推广以本土植物为基础的环境友好型园艺与景观实践，并在本土植物保护、生态修复与青少年自然教育等领域提供免费教学资源、植物救助、种子交换与专项小额资助等支持。
组织定位与三大核心方向
美国野人自然景观有限公司（Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes）成立于 1977 年，总部位于威斯康星州尼纳市（Neenah, Wisconsin），是经美国国税局认证的 501(c)(3) 非营利环保教育与倡导组织，以”将人与本土植物相连，建设健康的地球”为使命，通过遍布全美的分会网络、教学讲习、植物救助与种子交换、专项小额资助等方式，向公众推广以本土植物为基础的环境友好型园艺与景观实践。组织聚焦于三个核心方向：倡导（Advocacy）方面长期与 Bee Friendly、Quiet Communities、Monarch Joint Venture、Texas Native Plant Week 等全国性环保机构合作推进本土植物保护与生态修复；教育（Education）方面免费提供新会员手册、园艺示范设计与学习资源；协作（Collaboration）方面则与北美数十家行业组织建立合作伙伴关系，共同发布植物友好倡议与花园认证标准。
历史与组织沿革
美国野人自然景观有限公司由九位创始成员于 1977 年在威斯康星州密尔沃基市（Milwaukee, Wisconsin）发起。创立契机源于一次由自然园艺先驱洛丽·奥托（Lorrie Otto）在旭尔兹奥杜邦中心（Schlitz Audubon Center）所做的自然景观讲座，讲座后听众自发组成小组，致力于将自然演替的本土植物群落引入城乡景观。经过近半个世纪的发展，组织已从地方兴趣小组成长为覆盖 34 个州、由 91 个分会和 29 个筹备分会组成的全国性网络，会员通过分会参加植物救助、苗圃义卖、花园参观、种子采集与交换以及户外学习项目。2008 年，借助福克斯河/绿湾自然资源受托人委员会以及诺尔斯-纳尔逊遗产基金的资助，组织在威斯康星州尼纳市建立了新的总部大楼——”野人中心”（WILD Center, Wild Ones Institute of Learning and Development），作为全国教育、研究与会员服务的核心枢纽。
教育资助与旗舰项目
“洛丽·奥托种子教育小额资助”（Lorrie Otto Seeds For Education Grant Program，简称 SFE）是组织最负盛名的教育公益项目，专门为幼儿园至高中阶段的青少年户外学习园地提供本土植物种子、苗木采购以及教学设施建设资金，得名于创始人之一、自然园艺先驱洛丽·奥托，迄今已资助全国数百所学校与社区组织建立可教学可观察的本土植物微型栖息地。此外，每季度出版的《野人杂志》（Wild Ones Journal）面向所有缴费会员发行，深度报道本土园艺技术、各地分会动态、政策倡导进展以及科学新知。本土植物（Native Plants）指的是在欧洲移民到达之前便已在当地自然演替中存续的物种，其核心优势有三：其一，根系发达，可显著减缓地表径流、防止水土流失、过滤雨水径流中的营养盐，从而改善周边湖泊与河流的水质；其二，能够为传粉昆虫、鸣禽与小型哺乳动物提供食物与栖息地，是维持生物多样性的关键载体；其三，长期适应当地气候与土壤，需肥、需药、需水均显著低于外来园艺品种，建立稳定后基本无需频繁修剪与化学维护，全生命周期投入明显降低。
园艺行业参考价值与本地实践
对于希望将本土植物理念引入中国家庭园艺与社区景观的从业者而言，美国野人自然景观有限公司的运作模式具有直接的借鉴意义：组织以”全国总会 + 地方分会”的双层架构，把教学资源下沉到具体城市，使本土植物知识可以近距离示范；通过 SFE 等小额资助鼓励青少年在校园内建立微型本土植物园，让生态修复从基础教育开始生根；通过《野人杂志》与公开的”花园认证”（Habitat Certification）体系，把会员的优秀实践固化为可复制的景观模板。中国乡土植物丰富度位居世界前列，但在社区层面的系统性推广仍处于起步阶段，借鉴此类非营利组织的设计原则、教育资源组织方式与志愿分会网络，有助于在中文语境下加快本土园艺的公众普及与产业链成形。
Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes, operating under the legal entity Wild Ones Natural Landscapers, Ltd, is a U.S. Internal Revenue Service-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental education and advocacy organization. Founded in 1977 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by nine co-founders, it is now headquartered in the WILD Center (Wild Ones Institute of Learning and Development) in Neenah, Wisconsin, and promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices, native plant preservation, biodiversity restoration, and the reintroduction of locally adapted plant communities into residential, civic, and commercial landscapes through a national chapter network.
Mission and Three Programmatic Pillars
Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes, operating under the legal entity Wild Ones Natural Landscapers, Ltd, is a U.S. Internal Revenue Service-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental education and advocacy organization. It was founded in 1977 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is now headquartered in the WILD Center (Wild Ones Institute of Learning and Development) in Neenah, Wisconsin, and promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices, native plant preservation, biodiversity restoration, and the reintroduction of locally adapted plant communities into residential, civic, and commercial landscapes. The organization concentrates its work along three programmatic axes: Advocacy initiatives that partner with national environmental groups such as Bee Friendly, Quiet Communities, Monarch Joint Venture, and Texas Native Plant Week to advance pollinator habitat and native plant policy; Education programs that publish free New Member Handbooks, native garden design templates, and a quarterly digital journal for members; and Collaboration efforts that coordinate with dozens of regional and national partners to certify wildlife habitats, run photo contests, and connect thousands of volunteers across the country through a chapter network.
Founding History and Organizational Growth
Wild Ones was co-founded in 1977 by nine people who attended a natural landscaping lecture by environmental pioneer Lorrie Otto at the Schlitz Audubon Center in Milwaukee. Inspired by Otto’s call to bring natural plant communities back into the designed landscape, the group formalized as a nonprofit and gradually expanded its reach. Today, the organization comprises 91 chartered chapters and 29 prospective seedling chapters across 34 U.S. states (as of June 2024). Chapter members organize plant rescues, native plant sales, garden tours, seed collection and seed swaps, and outdoor learning projects that demonstrate native landscaping techniques in their own communities. In 2008, with grant assistance from the Fox River/Green Bay Natural Resource Trustee Council and the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, Wild Ones established its current national headquarters in Neenah, Wisconsin, as the operational hub for national programs, publications, and policy coordination with local chapter activities.
Flagship Education and Native Plant Benefits
The Lorrie Otto Seeds For Education Grant Program (SFE) is the organization’s signature youth education initiative, awarding small grants to schools, nature centers, and youth-serving nonprofits (Preschool through Grade 12) for the purchase of native seeds, native plants, and learning-site infrastructure. Named after founding member Lorrie Otto, the program has funded hundreds of schoolyard native plant habitats that double as outdoor classrooms. Complementing SFE, the quarterly Wild Ones Journal keeps members informed on propagation techniques, regional chapter news, pollinator research, and policy developments, while the public New Member Handbook (currently in its fifth edition) introduces newcomers to native plant selection, garden design, and long-term maintenance. Native plants themselves are species that occurred in a region prior to European settlement and have coevolved with the local soil, climate, and wildlife over thousands of years. Their use in designed landscapes offers three principal benefits: deep root systems that reduce stormwater runoff and filter nutrients before they reach lakes and streams; nectar, pollen, fruit, seeds, and foliage that sustain pollinators, songbirds, and small mammals; and markedly lower irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticide requirements than non-native ornamentals, reducing both maintenance effort and long-term cost.
Relevance for International Gardeners and Landscape Professionals
For gardeners, designers, and educators outside the United States who are working to reintroduce locally native flora into ornamental landscapes, Wild Ones offers a well-documented operational model. The two-tier structure of a national headquarters plus autonomous local chapters allows native plant knowledge to be demonstrated in specific soils and climates rather than only described in print. Small grant programs such as SFE make it financially feasible for schools and community groups to install teaching gardens that double as pollinator habitat. Open-access publications and a Habitat Certification framework turn scattered volunteer efforts into a coherent movement with measurable biodiversity outcomes. Landscape professionals, public garden administrators, and native plant societies elsewhere can adapt these mechanisms to accelerate public engagement with indigenous flora in their own regions.
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