Road Ecology Center

Protected plant and wildlife species that grow, forage, nest, roost, or migrate near the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) highway system may be susceptible to impacts from routine maintenance activities. In response to community-driven concerns related to the conservation of protected terrestrial species and due to the lack of existing guidance for maintenance personnel when protected-species conflicts arose, WSDOT biologists and maintenance personnel worked together to develop new guidance. The purpose of the guidance is to provide maintenance personnel with resources that identify which projects occur in sensitive plant and wildlife areas and identify best management practices (BMPs) that can be implemented to minimize or avoid impacts to protected terrestrial species in Washington State. Existing sensitive-species data and aerial photographs were used to identify locations of sensitive species and habitats and to develop guidance. To verify habitat presence, biologists conducted site visits to areas identified as possible sensitive habitats. The guidance document is in the form of a field handbook presented in a step-by-step format to facilitate use by WSDOT maintenance personnel. The guidance document provides maps and descriptions of sensitive areas, each identified by state route and milepost. Species information, such as species name, nest sites, wintering sites, or locations of sensitive habitats, are not identified in the guidance document. Alternatively, biologists placed the species into groups based on habitat needs and identified only the state-route mileposts that fall within each sensitive area. This process helped WSDOT prevent publicizing sensitive wildlife data in the guidance documents and avoided the need for evaluation of habitat by maintenance personnel. Common maintenance functions were also broken down into groups. For each sensitive location and maintenance function group, a list of BMPs is provided. BMPs may include timing restrictions, equipment use restrictions, or overall activities that should be avoided during certain seasons. The document does not address all possible conditions that may arise during maintenance operations that could affect protected terrestrial species. Maintenance staff consult with their Regional Maintenance Environmental Coordinator prior to initiating any activity that is not addressed by the guidance document or if there is any uncertainty about the applicability of the guidance. Maintenance activities that are not able to comply with the guidance typically require a field review by a biologist and the development of site-specific BMPs. Maintenance personnel do not follow this guidance for emergency actions because separate procedures were previously developed that adequately address protected species compliance for emergency maintenance actions. This project is currently being piloted with the Olympic Region Maintenance Program. Training courses conducted at individual maintenance sheds have provided opportunity for discussion and question and answer sessions. Biologists and maintenance personnel have had the opportunity to work together to learn each other’s programs, perspectives, and observations to improve the effectiveness of the environmental compliance guidance. The WSDOT Highway Maintenance Environmental Compliance Guidance for Protected Terrestrial Species Program has helped the Maintenance Program conduct