ComEd

August 20, 2024

Goats are world-renowned climbers and are able to eat plants in hard-to-reach places, like steep inclines, where humans and equipment have trouble accessing. That’s why every summer, ComEd enlists the help of goats to keep trees and brush along transmission lines under control – a key strategy to thwart interference with power lines, sustainably, in order to uphold our nation-leading power reliability.

This year, over 100 goats are employed to eat through 10 acres of vegetation south of Interstate 80. This is an increase of the 50 goats ComEd had last year. Over the next three to four weeks, these goats will help ensure the reliable distribution of power along our transmission rights-of-way.

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AASHTO

August 9, 2024

An “agronomist” is a scientist specializing in the study and care of crops and plants, conducting research to improve growth, production quality, and to combat diseases. In the agricultural sector, they often act as liaisons between farmers and researchers.

When it comes to roadside vegetation management, Alabama DOT’s agronomists develop guidelines for mowing operations and the use of herbicides.

But the work of the agency’s three agronomists – Jacob Hodnett, senior Alabama DOT agronomist; Steven Drake, agronomist for the Alabama DOT’s West Central Region; and Billy Aaron, the agronomist overseeing the Southeast region for the agency – goes beyond simply ensuring the grass gets cut along state roadsides.

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NWF Blog

August 12, 2024

Every year, an estimated 2 million acres of United States’ grassland and sagebrush shrublands are lost or degraded—on average, an area about triple the size of Yosemite National Park. A recent map developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology starkly shows how rapidly grasslands have succumbed to a combination of urban development, conversion to cropland, and degradation by invasive species. This destruction of grasslands has had dire consequences for wildlife and climate change, not to mention those who depend on healthy grasslands for their livelihoods (like cowboys!). 

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Oklahoma Department of Transportation

July 19, 2024

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation is receiving national recognition for its efforts toward anti-littering, environmental responsibility and monarch conservation.

“According to ODOT, the department was recently recognized at the Keep America Beautiful National Awards Ceremony. ODOT was one of four Oklahoma state agencies to be recognized alongside the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality and Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry.” 

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Energy Central

June 18, 2024

Biologists’ most exciting discovery to date is a male Nomada electella, a species that had never been recorded in New York.

“The discovery of regionally rare bee species on transmission corridors is incredibly important for pollinator conservation,” said Molly Jacobson, native pollinator ecologist, SUNY-ESF. “These rare bees rely on very specific resources, like certain flowers, soils, or particular hosts (in the case of parasitic bees), which have become scarce in the northeast due to reforestation and development of these sandy, open or shrubby habitats.”

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E&E News

March 20, 2024

Judgment day approaches for the monarch butterfly.

Bound by a court settlement, the Fish and Wildlife Service is supposed to decide by early December whether the monarch warrants listing as threatened or endangered. Although the agency misses many Endangered Species Act deadlines, it appears determined to meet this one after several years of study.

“We wanted to make sure that we have all the best science available … and we wanted to make sure that we were able to gather all that information and make a quality decision,” said Nicole Alt, director of FWS’ Center for Pollinator Conservation.

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KFGO (Fargo, ND)

March 31, 2024

The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources is now accepting grant applications for pollinator habitat projects across Minnesota. Ecologist Dan Shaw says the small-scale nature of the projects these grants will fund, like in communities and residential areas, is key to reversing declines in bee, butterfly and dragonfly populations.

He says, “Residents really can make a difference within their landscapes. We tell people to start small if you’re new to planting native plants and supporting pollinators, you can always expand in the future.”

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Montreal Gazette (Montreal, QC)

March 4, 2024

Steven Guilbeault, the federal minister of environment and climate change, was in Montreal on Monday to announce up to $7.5 million of new funding for projects to protect the habitat of species at risk across the country, including $1.5 million for 12 projects in Quebec.

“Nature is at the heart of our way of life and our main ally in the fight against climate change,” he told reporters at a news conference in La Fontaine Park. “Investing in nature also means investing in the fight against climate change because they are two sides of the same coin.”

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Phys.org

February 1, 2024

Managing forest edge habitats to maintain a gradient of canopy cover and plant density could be key to conserving some threatened native plant species such as wild lupine, according to Penn State researchers.

Edge habitats created by natural or human-caused disturbances, including corridors along roadways and utility rights-of-way, provide prime opportunities for encouraging the establishment and reproduction of rare native plants, the researchers reported in a new study published in Plant Ecology.

Read the rest of the article at Phys.org.

Bay Journal (Mayo, MD)

November 21, 2023

Here’s an item to add to your bingo card for long car drives: “no-mow” signs.

More highways and byways across the region are posting them next to strips of land — in medians, at intersections and along shoulders and curbs — as part of reduced mowing practices being integrated into their culture.

Mowing less frequently or avoiding it all together during certain times of year helps to leave habitat for native and pollinator-friendly plants, such as milkweed, when migrating monarchs and other wildlife need them most. Less mowing also means less pollution from gas-powered mowers, and there are financial incentives, too. 

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