Federal Highway Administration Resource Center

Advancing Knowledge Through Conferences, Symposia and Workshops

Virginia DOT and Resource Center Co-host National Roadside Vegetation Management Workshop

The Virginia Department of Transportation and the FHWA Resource Center’s Environmental Technical Service Team co-hosted the first-ever National Roadside Vegetation Management Workshop in Norfolk, VA, December 1-3, 2004. While it was the sixth such workshop conducted in the Mid-Atlantic region, it marks the first time all 52 State DOTs and the FHWA Division vegetation program managers were invited.

More than 100 management and operations specialists from 10 States came together to confront problems and constraints faced by public works agencies throughout the United States, and to look for solutions and technologies available to address them.

SPEAKERS AND TOPICS INCLUDED:
• Welcoming Remarks — FHWA Virginia Division Administrator Roberto Fonseca-Martinez and Phillip Shucet, Virginia DOT Commissioner.

• National Perspective on Roadside Management in the United States — The FHWA’s Bonnie Harper-Lore laid the foundation for subsequent discussions on invasive plant species (weeds) that are becoming major problems along the Nation’s highways.

• DOT Roadside Partnerships — Maryland State Highway Administration’s Leroy Jonas offered information on a number of ways to engage the energies and interests of organizations who care about the ecology and appearance of our roadsides. Jonas had many success stories — and pictures of beautiful roadsides — to share.

• North Carolina’s Roadsides and On-going/Future Challenges — Don Smith of North Carolina DOT cited the magnificent wildflower displays along his State’s roadsides, but officials there have the same overall vegetation problems as all other States — namely, more work to be done than people or money to do it.

• The Texas Vegetation Management Program was presented by John Mason of Texas DOT. Texas is world famous for those splendid displays of blue bonnets along the State’s roadsides each spring. However, given the size of Texas, crews there have found that by keeping it simple — limiting choices to a few regional-specific determinants (such as grass varieties, seed supply, and equipment design) — they are better able to accomplish their mission. With contractual assistance from the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI), the State DOT has assumed a lot of the necessary program responsibilities in-house, such as designing equipment and producing seed. In a separate presentation, Mason shared information about a pooled-fund vegetation/sedimentation research study he oversees at his agency’s Hydraulics and ESC Laboratory. Virginia DOT is a contributor to that pooled-fund study.

GIS Applications were reviewed by Chris Glazier of Utah DOT, who said that the technology is only 5% of the overall effort in his State. Good data and knowledgeable roadway crews are the critical ingredients for a successful GIS program, he said.

• Virginia’s Senate Bill 260 was discussed by Jim Carr, Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Virginia DOT. The Senate legislation allows private interests to finance the design, implementation, and long-term maintenance of gateway vegetation displays. Virginia DOT must approve and will ultimately oversee the implementation of the designs, so Carr took advantage of the workshop as a chance to gain input on the criteria that DOT should apply. Workshop participants offered the valuable suggestion that a list of Virginia-specific invasive plants — some still commonly promoted by the nursery industry and landscape designers — should be distributed Statewide. The list would include species that should never be considered for these designs, negating the need to continuously veto those selections as design plans are submitted. It was also suggested that designs using native plant species should be encouraged — even promoted — because their survival history is better and they require less irrigation and maintenance.

• DOT Applications in Arboriculture Law was presented by Vic Merullo of Merullo, Reister & Swinford Co., an attorney specializing in the law of trees. He focused on the sources and weight of law, including legislative law, case law, common law, basic rights, negligence, duty and injury. He also shared case studies in which suits had been brought over alleged damage caused by trees.

• “Weeds Across the Borders” (international borders, that is) was presented by Bonnie Harper-Lore. She helped participants better appreciate the scope and importance of this invasive plant species battle we all fight. Many were surprised to learn that Mexico is a leader among the “big three” North American jurisdictions (U.S., Canada and Mexico) in these conversations.

• GIS and Adirondack Park Invasive Plants Project, as presented by John Falge of the New York DOT, showed how a low-tech application of GIS can be very successful when employed by a group of agencies that all have a stake in controlling invasive plants that do not respect boundaries.

• Mosquito Management — Invasive plants are not the only invaders using our corridors and not respecting boundaries. Mosquitoes, those carriers of West Nile Virus, can also be our nemeses, reported by David Gaines, Virginia Department of Health. Ponded water on highway rights-of-way can provide a perfect incubator for mosquitoes, depending upon rain patterns. Gaines said that you must know and understand the mosquito specie and effective control measures in order to be an effective partner in any eradication effort.

• Alternative Use of Native Plants was discussed by Cole Burrell, of Native Landscape Design and Restoration. Burrell presented a gorgeous slideshow of attractive plant species we have grown to love, but now are identified as “invasive.” He displayed native plants that have much the same appearance and function but can be used in place of the invasive variety.

• Three research faculty members from Virginia Tech shared findings from their applied research studies for VDOT in areas of Turf Management (Mike Goatley), and Weed Management (Shawn Askew and Jeff Derr).

The workshop produced valuable dialogue among participants and with the various speakers. A large volume of related print materials and informational resources were made available to attendees by speakers, VDOT, and the FHWA.

For more information, contact:

M. Brian Waymack
Assistant Director for Roadside Management
Asset Management Division
Virginia Department of Transportation, (804) 371-6801

Jerry Barkdoll
Environmental Program Specialist
Environment Technical Service Team
FHWA Resource Center, (410) 962-0051
jerry.barkdoll@fhwa.dot.gov

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