Page 173 - Mapping the Nation: Taking Climate Action

Up front, the cost of changing vegetation management practices may be higher, but studies are showing that cost savings accrue as the amount of tree trimming and other intensive vegetation management decreases over time. DOTs are also saving millions of dollars by just mowing a 10- to 30-foot swath of roadway, known as the safety zone, next to Researchers map milkweed, observed from aerial images and field observations, to gauge the amount of suitable monarch butterfly habitat. highways and leaving the rest of the roadsides and medians more natural. In Iowa, for instance, the Iowa Living Roadway Trust Fund is working to plant roadways with native prairie grasses, wildflowers, and shrubs and has converted more than 50,000 acres to native habitat since 1990. The Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group also instigated collaboration with the US Fish and Wildlife Service to help future-proof the members that are doing habitat restoration work. The group came together to develop a conservation agreement for the monarch that outlines the steps needed to adopt and document best management practices. Companies that take these conservation measures receive regulatory assurances that additional requirements won't be mandated if the monarch is protected under the Endangered Species Act. The agreement has already had more than 30 organizations apply that each make a substantial commitment to improving pollinator habitat. The Texas Department of Transportation alone has enrolled 450,000 habitat acres, and 10 other state DOTs have also enrolled in the program. Eighteen energy companies have made similar commitments, with more coming. "This is a mechanism that rewards industry for voluntary conservation and also helps create and protects habitat on the ground," Caldwell said. Monarch butterflies need milkweed to lay eggs so their caterpillars have food to thrive and form a chrysalis that takes 14 days to mature before the next generation of butterfly takes flight. 172 Biodiversity