EFFECTS OF INTERSTATE RIGHT-OF-WAY MOWING ON WILDLIFE, SNOW BUILDUP, AND MOTORIST OPINION IN NORTH DAKOTA: A PRELIMINARY REPORT

USE OF INTERSTATE RIGHTS-OF-WAY BY BIRDS AND MAMMALS WARRANTS WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT ATTENTION. TWENTY-THREE MILES OF I-94 RIGHT-OF-WAY IN NORTH DAKOTA CONTAINED 264 GAME BIRD NESTS INCLUDING 249 DUCK NESTS. NESTING SUCCESS WAS 58.8 PERCENT IN 1968 AND 65.4 PERCENT IN 1969. DUCKS RESPONDED QUICKLY TO CESSATION OF MOWING WHEN ALTERNATE MILES OF THE RIGHT-OF-WAY AND HALF THE INTERCHANGE TRIANGLES WERE LEFT UNMOWED. SEVENTY-FOUR PERCENT OF THE DUCKS CHOSE UNMOWED NESTING SITES. THIRTY-FOUR PERCENT OF THE RIGHT-OF-WAY WATERFOWL NESTS WERE NOT HATCHED BY JULY 4 MOWING. UNMOWED RIGHT-OF-WAY VEGETAION DID NOT CAUSE SNOW BUILDUP ON THE DRIVING SURFACE. THE MAJORITY (82 PERCENT) OF 182 MOTORISTS INTERVIEWED HAD NOT NOTICED THE MOWED-UNMOWED CONDITIONS OF THE RIGHT-OF-WAY. MOST PREFERRED THE MOWED CONDITION WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE TREATMENTS. NUMBERS AND SPECIES OF WILDLIFE KILLED BY CARS IN THE STUDY AREA FLUCTUATED WITH POPULATION CHANGES. NO INCREASE WAS NOTED DURING THE YEAR OF ALTERNATE MOWED-UNMOWED MILES. RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE DELAYED OR CURTAILED MOWING ON INTERSTATE RIGHT-OF-WAY IN WATERFOWL-PRODUCING REGIONS. SUCH PRACTICES WILL INCREASE NESTING SUCCESS AND REDUCE HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE COSTS. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1970/335/335-010.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Paper sponsored by Committee on Right-of-Way Maintenance and presented at the 49th Annual Meeting. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Oetting, Robert B
  • Cassel, J Frank
• Publication Date: 1970

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 52-59
• Monograph Title: Roadside development and maintenance
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 335
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Drivers; Mowing; Public opinion; Sets; Snow; Wildlife
• Identifier Terms: Interstate Highway System
• Uncontrolled Terms: Nesting; Right of way
• Geographic Terms: North Dakota
• Old TRIS Terms: Accumulation
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00218744
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 1 1971 12:00AM