(The Conversation) October 3, 2019
Ecologically, the swaths of open, scrubby landscapes under transmission lines support a rich and complex menagerie of life, absent in the… Read more.
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Tennessee Makes Way for the Monarchs
(The New York Times) September 16, 2019
NASHVILLE — A few years ago I started noticing wildflowers blooming beside the highway: ironweed and goldenrod and snakeroot and black-eyed Susan. The first time it happened the sun was in my eyes as I drove west toward…Read more.
PPL’s Talking About the Birds and the Bees, and How it’s Trying to Get Back to Nature
(The Morning Call) September 02, 2019
Nature seems to take its course in the vibrant hues and quiet activities at a patch of earth between Route 309 and the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. This is PPL Electric Utilities’ test garden at its Walbert Conference Center in South Whitehall Township, a project first seeded in 2017 that’s now bearing flowers and bringing birds, bees and other wildlife to areas beneath giant transmission towers and wires… Read More.
Solar prairie blooms into a ‘living laboratory’
(University of Dayton) August 8, 2019
In less than two years, the University of Dayton has transformed the front lawn of Daniel J. Curran Place into a “living laboratory” dedicated to sustainability. A solar array was installed in 2018 and… Read more.
The Impact is Tremendous: Readers on Wildflower Verges
(The Guardian) July 18, 2019
Catastrophic news for insect life has inspired communities and councils around the UK to take action, generating splashes of summer colour which hope to have a lasting impact. Below, readers share some of their local successes, including thoughts about how leaving nature to run its course by standing back rather than taking action can help – and explain how they have been getting involved in community projects big and small. Read more.
Miles of Lines, Miles of Monarch Habitat
(T & D World) June 2019
There is a new and urgent focus among electric and gas utilities to reconsider their land management practices in light of declining insect populations worldwide. This includes the iconic orange-and-black monarch butterfly, which may be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as soon as next year. Read more
City staff buzzing about endangered bee discovery as boulevard preps for another season
(CBC) April 22, 2019
A partnership between the City of Calgary, loads of nature-loving students and select universities is blooming into something exciting. A so-called bee boulevard was created a couple of years ago on Canyon Meadows Drive, and this winter researchers identified an endangered pollinator frequenting the blooms. Read More
Delaware highway project leads to 43-acre bee-supporting meadow
(WHYY) April 09, 2019
When Route 301 was built, the Delaware Department of Transportation was required to offset some of the land it paved over with property left in a natural state. It spurred planting 250,000 tree saplings along the new 14-mile highway in Southern New Castle County but also gave birth to a 43-acre wildflower meadow. The first-of-its-kind offset project seeks to fulfill DelDOT’s environmental requirements while at the same time supporting bees, butterflies and other wildlife. Read More
How can the power industry help the monarch butterfly?
(EPRI Journal) April 4, 2019
Study identified 10.7 million acres in transmission rights-of-way as potential monarch habitat—about 8.5% of the total needed for monarch restoration and a potentially meaningful contribution. Tim Lohner, PhD consulting environmental specialist at American Electric Power (AEP), estimated conservatively that utility conservation efforts on these land corridors could yield enough milkweed for more than 12 million monarchs, or about 5% of a fully recovered population. Read More
Beneath Solar Panels, the Seeds of Opportunity Sprout
(NREL Transforming Energy) April 2, 2019
Low-Impact Development of Solar Installations Could Be Win-Win-Win for Food, Water, and Renewable Energy
On a humid, overcast day in central Minnesota, a dozen researchers crouch in the grass between rows of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels. Only their bright yellow hard hats are clearly visible above the tall, nearly overgrown prarie grasses—which are growing exactly as expected…Read more.