Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group

habitat conservation + working landscapes

A close-up image of a bee hovering near a vibrant pink flower, surrounded by green foliage, highlighting the importance of pollinators in nature.

Resources library

This online library is a clearinghouse of tools and information related to habitat on rights-of-way and other lands. From seed mix calculators to mowing guidelines and everything in between, you’ll find it here.

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Literature review publication on harvest environment and best management practices related to human rights-of-way, featuring a detailed analysis and references, published in May 2021.

Literature Review: Pollinator Habitat Enhancement and Best Management Practices in Highway Rights-of-Way

Best Management Practices

This literature review was prepared by ICF International and the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation on behalf of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. It represents a first step in an effort to provide practicable BMPs that FHWA can offer transportation agencies to develop pollinator programs in their jurisdictions and enhance these programs where they already exist.

Informative brochure titled

Roadsides for Bees and Butterflies

Best Management Practices

The University of Northern Iowa Tallgrass Prairie Center developed this pamphlet on bee and butterfly habitat along roadsides. The pamphlet addresses concerns with vehicle collisions, describes how Integrated Vegetation Management using native wildflowers and grasses can help pollinators, and provides additional resources for more information.

Cover of

Chicago Wilderness: Native Landscape & Ecological Restoration Guide

Best Management Practices

Prepared by Chicago Wilderness’s Native Landscape & Restoration Contractor Selection Guide Working Group with the primary purpose of providing assistance to organizations in the selection and oversight of appropriate contractors and consultants for native landscaping and ecological restoration work.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service document on hedgerow planting, detailing the definition, purpose, and considerations for establishing living fences of shrubs and trees to enhance wildlife habitat, delineate field boundaries, and improve landscapes.

NRCS Conservation Practice 422

Best Management Practices

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Delaware Conservation Practice Standard talks about the best management practices regarding Hedgerow planting

Cover of

Monarch Conservation in America’s Cities

Best Management Practices

This manual written by the National Wildlife Federation offers case studies and shares innovative best practices that can be used by municipalities across the nation to conserve monarch butterflies.

Image depicting the establishment of pollinator meadows from seed, featuring a vibrant garden with various flowering plants, a close-up of a bee on a pink flower, and a meadow filled with yellow and orange blooms alongside a sign indicating a pollinator habitat.

Establishing Pollinator Meadows from Seed

Best Management Practices

This guideline developed by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation provides guidelines to establish pollinator meadows in small to large areas. Information on site selection, plant selection, site preparation, several planting techniques and ongoing management is made available