Office of Planning, Environment, & Realty (HEP)
Planning • Environment • Real Estate
An isolated wetland in Anchorage, Alaska might have dried up without the resourcefulness of the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOTPF). When an old off-ramp on Seward Highway was demolished a few years ago to make room for a new ramp, highway crews could easily have filled the low-value, "developable" half-acre site. Instead, they preserved it, enlarging the area's existing forested and emergent wetlands. For very little additional construction or design cost, ADOTPF wetland specialists enhanced the site by transplanting cattails, rushes, and other wetland plants salvaged from another construction site. Highway runoff was directed to the newly-created wetland, and despite a severe drought in 2004, the wetland has remained in standing water, filtering highway runoff and offering nesting habitat for wild ducks and Canada geese.
--Aug 21, 2006
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| ADOTPF photo |
| Wetland adjacent to forest community. |
