Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project

Micki Davi, Living Roadsides Project Manager
Mountain Resource Center (MRC)
PO Box 425
Conifer, CO 80433
303-838-7552
303-838-3781 - fax
admin@mountainresourcecenter.org

Project Duration: October 2001 to October 2002

	Request	Matching Funds (Not Required)
		Non-Federal	Federal
First Year Funding	39,999	0	0
Second Year Funding	0	0	0
Total Funding Request	39,999	0	0

Executive Summary

The proposed project is a continuation of the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project, a community-based environmental protection initiative entering its second year in the fall of 2001. Begun in October 2000, and funded by a $40,700 Community-Based Environmental Protection (CBEP) grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA/Region 8), the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project assists the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) in con-trolling nonnative, invasive plants (or "noxious weeds"), and in reducing pesticide use along the Highway 285 corridor through the implementation of nonchemical Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) on selected roadside sites along a 31 mile stretch of the Highway 285 corridor from Highway 8, in Morrison, to the town of Shawnee.

Noxious weeds pose a formidable environmental and economic threat, having the potential to reduce or destroy cropland; forage for livestock on rangeland, and wildlife habitat (for wildlife); further threaten Endangered Species; threaten biodiversity, and reduce the usability and aesthetic value of recreative lands, costing tens of millions of dollars in damage each year and millions more for control. Public agencies, like CDOT, typically rely primarily upon the use of synthetic herbicides to control noxious weeds along highways, medians, and other right-of-ways. Some of these herbicides, like 2,4-D and picloram, however, have contaminated groundwater in the western United States, including the Rocky Mountain region. There is also concern about the human and animal health risks associated with pesticides. Scientists from an array of fields are now exploring the correlation between pesticides (and other chemicals)--like several of the herbicides commonly used to control noxious weeds along roadsides--and endocrine disruption in wildlife and humans.

During the second year of the Project, Mountain Resource Center (MRC) will continue: 1) working with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to control noxious weeds along Highway 285, and reduce pesticide use and risk through implementation of MRC's Integrated Vegetation Management Plan (IVM); 2) working with the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) and the University of Colorado (Boulder) to release biocontrol agents on several species of noxious weeds along the Highway 285 corridor, to monitor results; and to make such quantitative data available to public and private landowners; 3) to conduct Community Education Forums (CEFs) about the Project and nonchemical IVM throughout the community to promote the Project and environmental stewardship; 4) to continue to work with local schools to control noxious weeds on their property; 5) to expand MRC's Partner base; 6) hiring and training roadside crew workers and volunteers; 7) to continue to build MRC's IVM reference library for the public; 8) providing informative brochures and flyers about the Project, IVM, pesticide pollution prevention through pesticide use and risk reduction; 10) making available to interested parties, MRC's Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) Plan and Training Manual; 11) collaborating with, and providing volunteer support to, public and private agencies; area businesses; local schools, churches and community organizations, and private landowners who adopt MRC's IVM Plan on their property, or who wish to adopt an abutting site, and, 12) to develop public relations, to include expanding media attention about
the Project on state, national and international levels.

Objectives

To continue working with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to control noxious weeds on selected sites along the Highway 285 corridor from Highway 8, in Morrison, to the town of Shawnee, and to help CDOT prevent pesticide pollution through pesticide use reduction through the implementation of nonchemical Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) for roadsides;
To continue to be in compliance with the mandate set forth by the Colorado Noxious Weed Act by utilizing an "integrated" method of noxious weed management that is "least environmentally-damaging;"
To continue to work with the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) and the University of Colorado (CU/Boulder) to release biocontrol agents on several noxious weed species along the Highway 285 corridor, and to monitor and analyze their effectiveness;
To continue to collaborate with federal, state and local agencies; area businesses, local schools, and churches; community organizations, and private landowners, in controlling noxious weeds along 31 miles of the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project;
To continue to enlist the support and participation of public and private agencies, volunteers, businesses, schools, churches, community organizations, and private landowners, to adopt abutting sites along the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project, thereby, expanding the area of control;
To continue to provide to citizens, education about the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project, nonchemical Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM), pesticide pollution prevention through pesticide use reduction, and related matters;
To expand media attention on all levels--local, state, national and international--to include the Internet;
To develop a website for the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project; and,
To continue to encourage environmental stewardship and pesticide pollution prevention at area schools through the use of Community Education Forums (CEFs); to assist schools in developing and implementing nonchemical Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) projects, and to continue to conduct CEFs about the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project throughout the community.

Justification

Numbers correspond to the numbers on the list of Objectives (pages 3 and 4).

Potential Outcome

Environmental

will protect wildlife and restore and protect wildlife habitat, including wetlands areas; will protect and encourage biodiversity
will become a model for following state law
will provide a "living laboratory" for the use of biocontrol agents in montane and sub-alpine regions, and along roadsides; affords weed scientists, land managers, and others with an academic interest in noxious weed control, an opportunity to observe the effectiveness of biocontrol agents in normal, unaltered settings
will help agencies work together towards a proactive solution to the problem of noxious weeds
will help community residents work together towards a proactive solution to the problem of noxious weeds
will help citizens learn about the Project, and the value of IVM, specifically the management tools of education and prevention in the control of noxious weeds; will provide an example of environmental stewardship to citizens and public and private agencies about the importance of managing noxious weeds and avoiding pesticide pollution through pesticide use reduction
will bring attention to the problem of noxious weeds, the importance of public and private landowners working together to address the problem, and the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project as an example
will reach a wider audience with information about the problem of noxious weeds, nonchemical IVM, the importance of pesticide use reduction, and the Project
will teach students and teachers about environmental stewardship, the problem of noxious weeds, the importance of biodiversity, and pesticide pollution prevention; will become a model for other schools and the community

Human Health

will provide a safer route of travel for motorists during the weed growing season, and will protect citizens living along the Highway 285 corridor from roadside spraying
will provide an example to public and private citizens of "least environmentally-damaging" noxious weed management
by helping to reduce pesticide use through the use of biocontrol agents, will help to further protect citizens from pesticides
by collaborating with many entities, will increase knowledge and understanding of the noxious weed issue and the importance of pesticide use reduction at various levels of participation, which will translate into less pesticide use, and therefore, less risk to others
will provide hands-on learning experience for public and private in pesticide-use reduction through nonchemical IVM which will increase protection for citizens
will educate citizens about nonchemical IVM which will promote environmental stewardship and understanding about human health as it pertains to environmental health, among the community
will help many learn about the value of nonchemical IVM, especially the importance of protecting human health by reducing pesticide use
will provide information about the value of nonchemical IVM to countless others on local, state, national and international levels, which will help others protect their communities from pesticide pollution
will provide students with information and hands-on learning about the importance of reducing pesticide use; will stimulate school projects which demonstrate environmental stewardship and protection of human health

Pesticide use/risk reduction

1-9. Pesticide pollution prevention and pesticide use reduction are inherent features of the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project because it follows a nonchemical integrated strategy for noxious weed management throughout. In addition, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has agreed to withhold spraying herbicides along the Project in order to allow MRC to fully implement a nonchemical program.

Literature Review

Elements of the Mountain Resource CenterÂ's (MRC) Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project are modeled after the example of other states, universities, agencies and communities, that have successfully implemented, or which are currently experimenting with, nonchemical Integrated Vegetation Management (IVM) methods in meadows, Open Space and city parks, backyards, on school grounds, but especially along roadsides. The following are references to literature available on some of these programs:

Ehley, A., et al. Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management Technical Manual. Center for Energy and Environmental Education, University of Northern Iowa.

Iowa relies on the use of revegetation with native plants to control noxious weeds and prevent soil erosion along state roadways. Using native plants this way has helped to restore and protect wildlife and wildlife habitat, too, with the added benefit of beautification.
Daar, S. and S. King. 1997. Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Integrated Vegetation Management for Roadsides.

In an effort to reduce Agency use of pesticides to control noxious weeds along state roadways, WSDOT has begun to implement an IVM Plan which focuses on prevention, monitoring and sustainable, long-term management of noxious weeds.
Carpenter, A. T., et al. 2000. Creating an Integrated Weed Management Plan: A Handbook for Owners and Managers of Lands with Natural Values. Care for the Land Series. Vol. IV.

A very useful compilation of information, articles and real life scenarios managing noxious weeds in Colorado, including information on nonchemical methods.

Approach and Methods

The Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project will be carried out with the use of Community Education Forums (CEFs) to educate citizens, and through the Implementation Phase, whereby trained crew workers handpull or cut weeds on roadside sites and trained volunteer workers handpull or cut weeds on abutting sites. Both roadside crew workers and volunteers partake in revegetation efforts as well.

Impact Assessment

The success of the Highway 285 Living Roadsides Project will be evaluated based on the degree to which noxious weed management is achieved, and to the extent that citizens have been educated about the Project, nonchemical IVM, and pesticide pollution prevention through pesticide use reduction, and the positive impact such education has had on the community.

Project Budget

From: October 2001
To: October 2002

Budget Category	Grant Funding
Personnel	25,845
Fringe Benefits	4,394
Travel	360
Equipment (tools)	300
Supplies (paper, printing, Internet access, seed, etc.)	1,000
Contractual ($10/hr)	6,000
Other (training, operating, dues, publications, books)	2,100
Total	39,999