Habitat in the News - Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group

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EPRI

Chart: Most Americans support expanding solar and wind power

Canary Media

November 15, 2024

Solar and wind power are more popular among Americans than nuclear power or fossil fuels, according to a May survey from Pew Research Center. Republicans as well as Democrats favor expanding the renewable energy sources — but Republican support for them has fallen sharply over the last eight years. Democrats have always viewed clean energy more favorably than Republicans, but the gap between the two was once small. Now, after years of slipping Republican support, that gap is yawning.

Artificial Intelligence Camera Captures Bird Behavior Around Solar Panels to Inform Siting and Conservation—Success Story

U.S. Department of Energy

October 24, 2024

Understanding how wildlife interacts with solar arrays is critical to maintaining healthy ecosystems while deploying clean energy. A team at Argonne National Laboratory set out to develop a camera system that could continuously monitor how birds behave around solar panels using artificial intelligence. Their results provided greater understanding of bird behaviors at large-scale solar sites. Now, they’re testing this system across the country to build a bigger picture of bird interactions with solar systems to support ecologically responsible solar deployment.

Building enough solar energy to decarbonize the U.S. economy by 2035 could require as much as 5.7 million acres of land. While this is only about 0.3% of the contiguous United States, it is critical to understand how solar infrastructure impacts local wildlife so we can develop strategies and technologies that avoid or minimize adverse impacts and maximize benefits.

Nature’s “Room-baaa” Doesn’t Miss a Spot

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.

Alabama DOT ‘Agronomists’ Manage Roadside Vegetation

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.

Grasslands: A Disappearing Ecosystem

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!).

ODOT nationally recognized for beautification efforts

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.”

Discovery of Rare Bee Species in Con Edison’s Transmission Right-of-Way Creates a Buzz

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.”

Conservation efforts target monarchs as ESA decision looms

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.

Pollinator grant applications now open in Minnesota

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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