Current Impediments for New England DOTs to Transition to Sustainable Roadside Practices for Strengthening Pollinator Habitats and Health

Abstract

Government agencies whose work impacts the environment have sought more sustainable policy changes that require the use of native plants for revegetation. However, New England DOTs have encountered hurdles in attempts to transition from using cool-season turfgrass to implementing the more complicated management practices required to establish native plant communities. Two of the most significant barriers have been the slow transition to mainly using native plants for revegetation and the lack of genetically appropriate ecotypic native plant material (ENPM) produced in the Northeast. Growers of ENPM have resisted increasing production because they struggle to gauge demand due to substantial communication gaps between local producers and end users. Therefore, we organized focus groups with New England state DOTs, Departments of Environmental Protection, and Fish and Wildlife Services to determine their demand for ENPM and to explore their relationships with producers. We determined that the subcontracting of DOTs hinders their ability to develop relationships with producers because it leaves seed source selection in the hands of third parties. Another impediment was found to be the resistance of some maintenance departments to adopt sustainable management practices, such as reduced mowing. In summary, we determined that DOTs would benefit from establishing more direct relationships with producers to communicate their ENPM needs.