Roadsides and Railroad Rights-Of-Way:
Ribbons of Wildflowers, Native Grasses and Recreation
By Kathryn E. Bolin, MnDOT Prairie Passage Coordinator
(651) 284-3767
| "...the black prairie soil was built by the prairie plants, a hundred distinctive species of grasses, herbs, and shrubs; by the prairie fungi, insects and bacteria; by the prairie mammals and birds, all interlocked in one humming community of cooperation and competition, one biota. This biota, through ten thousand years of living and dying, burning and growing, preying and fleeing, freezing and thawing, built the dark and bloody ground we call prairie. Our grandfathers did not, could not know the origin of their prairie empire. They killed off the prairie fauna and they drove the flora to a last refuge on railroad embankments and roadsides." Aldo Leopold, Round River, 1953 |
When the first cross country railroads were built in the mid1800's, more than one million square miles of native grasses and wildflowers covered the heartland of the United States. Following the construction of these railroads, the disturbed soil was `naturally' reseeded by the native grasses and wildflowers surrounding the tracks. Decades later, highways were constructed, often following railroads and sharing a common right-of-way These right-of-ways often protected remnants of the original, or native, tallgrass prairie, sometimes called ribbons or corridors of wildflowers. In some states highway and railroad right-of-ways are home to rare plants. This is the case in Minnesota where both federal and state listed plants are found along highway right-of-ways.
The federal listed prairie western fringed orchid and the state listed shooting star are both found along a right-of-way in southern Minnesota. The shooting star population is the only known location for this species in Minnesota. The communities along this stretch of highway actively promote and protect this ribbon of remnant prairie. A 16 mile stretch of the highway was designated as Minnesota's first State Wildflower Route, The Shooting Star Wildflower Route, in 1989. Several years later this stretch was included in a longer segment of highway as a State Scenic By-way. Signage depicts the shooting star which is also represented on street banners hanging in each of the four towns along the way In 2002 the second segment of the Shooting Star Bicycle Trail was dedicated. Like many other bike trails around the country , portions of the Shooting Star Bicycle Trail are constructed on the abandoned railbed.
The Cost-Effectiveness of Prairie Passage Plantings
by Robert Jacobson, MnDOT
(651) 284-3767
Questions regarding the cost effectiveness of using native grasses instead of common non native species continue to surface. Minnesota Dept. of Transportation has been using native grasses and forbs (wildflowers) in roadside planting mixes on new construction and reconstruction projects for several years.
Recently MnDOT looked at the cost benefits of managing for natives vs. turf vs. forage species. Costs of seed mixes, establishment, and both short term and long term maintenance costs were looked at. Maintenance activities included mowing, spot spraying, burning, fertilizing and spraying. The costs for native prairie seed mixes can be $150 per acre more than the forage mix and $50 more than the turf mixes. However, the total maintenance costs per acre over a 10 year time it costs about half as much to manage for native prairie mixes as it does for forage mixes. Turf mixes are somewhat more costly than native prairie mixes. Cost savings extended beyond ten years were estimated at even greater savings in the native prairie mixes.
The long-term savings in managing natives vs. forage species is significant. Increased benefits of native cover vs. introduced forage species, cover for wildlife, ecosystem health, and water quality, is not easily quantifiable. However, fewer pesticides and less fuel is needed to manage native prairie than other types of cover. These factors alone provide environmental and economic incentives to look at the benefits of growing native.
