Minnesota Department of Transportation:
A Transportation Network in Harmony with the Environment

by Kathryn E. Bolin, MN/DOT OES
651.284-3765

Minnesota citizens consistently rank protection of the environment and the natural resources as one of their highest priorities. Similarly Minnesota citizens desire a transportation system that is in harmony with the state's unique ecosystems. Minnesota Department of Transportation's Office of Environmental Services (OES) reflects this statewide citizen view in its vision "a transportation network in harmony with the environment."

Blazing stars, Liatris pychnostachia, are protected on Shooting Star Wildflower Route.

Minnesota Department of Transportation staff have been protecting and restoring native plants and plant communities along Minnesota roadsides for more than two decades. Through the diversity of professionals, OES staff provides environmental leadership, technical expertise, education and programs throughout the transportation community and the Minnesota communities it serves.

Working in cooperation with other public agencies, Mn/DOT staff have inventoried and mapped many roadsides for rare plants and remnant prairies. Protection and management strategies have been developed which include use of prescribe fire, signing, reduced mowing, reduced spraying of herbicides, designation of State Wildflower Routes, creation of detailed management plants and cooperative efforts with local communities. The Minnesota Department of Transportation, in partnership with the DOT's from Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, was instrumental in the creation of the Prairie Passage effort to designate a route from Canada to Mexico through the prairie states which will bring awareness and appreciation of the natural and cultural resources of the North American Prairie Landscape.

Mn/DOT cooperates with other agencies, colleges and universities to fund and guide research projects that will lead to more effective, efficient and environmentally sound management practices. Biological control of problem species, wetland restorations, erosion control and suitable species mixes for specific soils and locations are among the many areas studied and being researched.

OES staff also work with other Mn/DOT functional groups in the design and review phases of project development. Building quality in and bringing life to transportation corridors is a goal of OES staff.

Other services provided by OES include water resources management, wildlife management, sustainable transportation initiatives, water quality monitoring, air quality, noise analysis and contamination cleanup.

III - Protected Natives

First - Minnesota Blazing Star
Photo: by David Larson

Blazing star, a species of Liatris, decorates the ditches of the Shooting Star Wildflower Route and Scenic Byway along US HWY 56 through southern Minnesota. Monarch butterflies are often seen feeding on the variety of Liatris species as they migrate their way south in August and September.

Third - Minnesota Shooting Star

Shooting star, Dodecatheon meadii, is listed as an Endangered species in Minnesota. It is found only in one small population located in a roadside right-of-way in southern Minnesota. Four small rural towns along the highway have adopted this plant creating street banners depicting shooting star which hang along their main streets. The route has been designated as Shooting Star Wildflower Route and Scenic Byway.