Rights of Way Ecosystem Management

[Richard_Johnstone (Richard A Johnstone)]

Our nation’s energy and transportation infrastructure needs to be updated to meet the needs of our society. This presents an opportunity for us to also improve habitat for pollinators, T&E species, and other wildlife and reduce the threat of wildfires by adopting best integrated vegetation management (IVM) practices that control flammable nonnative invasive plants and restore native habitat. Electric, natural gas, oil and highway rights-of-way corridors occupy millions of acres of land across every ecosystem of America and are connectors of isolated natural and urban forest and prairie ecosystems. These best practices meet safety, access, and reliability needs while lowering routine maintenance costs, and can reduce greenhouse gases through carbon sequestration by native prairie grasses and trees.