The University of Illinois Chicago, in partnership with Burns & McDonnell, was awarded a working group grant from the North Central Integrated Pest Management Center (NCIPMC) to conduct an analysis of existing cost data and determine the feasibility for the future development of a cost-benefit calculator for energy and transportation lands.
Year 1 Report
The first year of the feasibility study aggregated and analyzed data from partners across the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group and from literature reviews that provided costs and quantifiable benefits associated with implementing integrated vegetation management (IVM) and pollinator habitat practices. The data analysis evaluated gaps and trends in costs and benefits and assessed the feasibility of an industry-wide cost-benefit calculator. Click here for more information about the first year results.
Year 2 Report
During the second year of the feasibility study, UIC and Burns & McDonnell created a web-based cost data collection form to gather cost information associated with pollinator-friendly and conventional vegetation management practices looking for similarities and averages across vegetation management practices. Read more about the year 2 activities here.
Annual Buy-In Survey Results
To build on the positive input and participation that the Rights-of-Way Habitat Working Group (ROWHWG) received from its 2019 online survey and the Fall 2019 workshop, the effort to continue gauging institutional buy-in for habitat conservation practices on energy and transportation rights-of-way has been continued through a survey launched in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
The results of all three years have been analyzed in this document and allow us to examine year-to-year trends as well as identify emerging needs and opportunities.
This work is supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Crop Protection and Pest Management Program through the North Central IPM Center (2018-70006-28883).
With support from
