00605570

Component

http://onlinepubs.trb.org...trr/1990/1279/1279-010.pdf

https://scholar.google.co...bson&publication_year=1990

Surveys to identify stands of high-quality native vegetation were initiated by the Minnesota Department of Transportation on highway and railroad rights-of-way in 1988. They were based on two earlier right-of-way surveys (in 1978 and 1980) that had identified 25 corridors supporting high- to relatively good-quality native prairie vegetation in Minnesota. The recent surveys indicate that 30 to 50% of the corridors identified in 1978 and 1980 have been lost because of railway abandonment, reconveyance of land to adjacent landowners, and highway reconstruction and maintenance activities. This finding is consistent with the overall dramatic decline of tallgrass prairie on rights-of-way throughout its range in Minnesota and the rest of the upper Midwest. In order to prevent further degradation of these valuable roadside prairie communities, Minnesota's Departments of Natural Resources and Transportation initiated an innovative and cooperative roadside prairie preservation and management program. The program is based on a preservation and management strategy that had been in use on Minnesota Trunk Highway 56 (TH 56) since 1983, where high-quality prairie vegetation was identified by early survey work. Since that time, the TH 56 right-of-way has been maintained using prescribed burning as the primary management tool, while at the same time mowing and herbicide use have been minimized. Management of TH 56 to enhance the right-of way prairie there has been so successful that this corridor was designated as Minnesota's first wildflower route on August 19, 1989.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Record No. 1279, Hydrology and Environmental Design 1990. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

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p. 79-85

1990

Transportation Research Record

0309050650

Figures (3) ; References (9) ; Tables (3)

Grasslands; Identification systems; Management; Native plants; Preservation; Right of way (Land); Roadside; Vegetation; Wildflowers

Identification

Great Plains; Minnesota

Administration and Management; Design; Environment; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; I20: Design and Planning of Transport Infrastructure; I60: Maintenance

TRIS, TRB

Mar 31 1991 12:00AM

• APRIL 1989 HATCHIE RIVER US-51 BRIDGE FAILURE
• COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF THREE ESTIMATORS OF LOG PEARSON TYPE 3 DISTRIBUTION
• COMPUTERIZED DATA BASE MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM FOR FIELD-COLLECTED SCOUR DATA
• DEVELOPMENT OF PLANNED MANAGEMENT ROADSIDE DESIGN FOR URBAN HIGHWAYS IN ILLINOIS
• FLASH FLOOD: HIGHWAY-RELATED LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
• HIGHWAY WATER QUALITY CONTROL--SUMMARY OF 15 YEARS OF RESEARCH
• NESTING BALD EAGLES (HALIAEETUS LEUCOCEPHALUS) IN URBAN AREAS OF SOUTHEAST ALASKA: ASSESSING HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION AND DISTURBANCE IMPACTS
• PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY--PENNDOT ROADSIDE RESEARCH PROJECT: WILDFLOWER EVALUATION
• PENNSYLVANIA STATE URBAN HYDROLOGY MODEL AS A TOOL FOR HIGHWAY DRAINAGE DESIGN
• REDUCTION OF SALT BUILDUP AND TWIG INJURY IN ROADSIDE PEACH TREES WITH FILM-FORMING SPRAYS
• SHORELINE STABILIZATION TO PROTECT LOUISIANA HIGHWAY 82
• WILDLIFE CROSSINGS OF FLORIDA I-75