California - First Place Winner of Category III

Caltrans Protects State's Natural Heritage

By George Hartwell

The photograph is deceptively complex. It illustrates a delicate and intricate balance of life in California's harsh and relentless Sonoran Desert where none but those evolved to cope can survive in ecological equilibrium with each other. The site is a California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) roadside Botanical Management Area (BMA); one of 20 such sites currently designated that host remnant native plant communities. Some of the plant life on each site may appear as it did hundreds - or even thousands - of years before European westward migration and settlement changed California's landscapes.

Spectacular species of the desert protected on California Route 78.

The idea of managing roadside natural communities for their aesthetic, cultural, scientific, and functional values germinated with a small grant from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The FHWA challenged Caltrans' Office of State Landscape Architecture to discover highway rights-of-way where vegetation management practices might be modified to encourage native plant life and, at the same time, to combat invasive weed species.

The premise was simple: balanced and functional, native plant communities are self-sustaining. They do not require supplemental irrigation because they have evolved to thrive in local climate and weather conditions, including drought. They provide effective erosion control and, need little or no maintenance. Their aesthetic appeal is universal. Spring-flowering species bring brilliant color to the landscape, and the natural free form of native plant species complements natural surroundings.

Some of Caltrans' BMAs, and many other roadsides throughout California, are affected by invasive weeds. Invasive weeds may displace native vegetation, create ecological havoc, and cause economic harm to the state's agriculture, recreation, and tourism industries. The question was apparent: how do we eradicate the weeds without damaging the natural resources of each site? The lessons learned could be applied to other weed-infested roadside environments.

Caltrans studied each site, produced baseline data, and developed management plans that prescribe cost-effective strategies for weed control and enhancement of naturally-occurring plant species. The sites proved also to be roadside research laboratories where vegetation management methods could be monitored and evaluated over time, and native plant species, some of them very rare, could be studied.

Recently, Caltrans was awarded a federal Transportation Enhancement Activities (TEA) grant to demonstrate effective public awareness in the state's effort to steward its roadside resources in the best ways possible. Caltrans will install Traveler Information Services (TIS) radio broadcast transmitters on four of the sites, initially. Motorists will be able to tune their car radios to a common AM frequency to learn about the unique character of the sites, their fragility and their stability, as well as the benefits of protecting and preserving natural areas. TIS radio may prove to be a way to encourage public participation in roadside vegetation management through Adopt-A-Highway and other programs that build community pride in the interface between California's highways and local communities.

For more information regarding Caltrans botanical management area program, contact the Office of State Landscape Architecture, Gary Bush, chief, at (916) 654-4814, or visit CaliforniaWILD on the Internet at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LandArch/CaliforniaWILD/.