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PennDOT Launches New Pollinator Habitat Plan; Adopt And Beautify For Pollinators Program For Citizens Who Want To Help

PennDOT has expanded its popular Adopt A Highway Program to now include an Adopt And Beautify For Pollinators Program to provide volunteers with the opportunity to support pollinator conservation by adopting, planting and maintaining Pollinator Habitat sites.

Sites available for pollinator conservation are state highway right-of-ways, including interchange areas, traffic islands or two-mile sections of roadway.

PennDOT has a Roadside Planting Guidebook available to assist volunteers and groups participating in this program.

PennDOT has contacts within each of its District Offices that can answer questions about the Adopt and Beautify Program for pollinator conservation.

The PennDOT pollinator conservation program was developed as a result of PennDOT’s new Pollinator Habitat Plan initiative, which in turn supports Pennsylvania’s Pollinator Protection Plan.

Why is PennDOT involved in Pennsylvania’s effort to protect pollinators?

Historically, agriculture has been, and continues to be important to the Pennsylvania economy. The diversity of crops, and the number of pollinator dependent crops grown in Pennsylvania is greater than almost all other states.

Nearly 75 percent of our flowering plants and crops are pollinator dependent. Pollinators are particularly important for fruit and vegetable production.

Habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation in combination with increases in pesticide use and introduced disease threaten the pollinators on which we depend for food crops and a sustainable agricultural economy.

In fact the declining numbers of several species have been so significant that these species are under review for listing as federal threatened and endangered species, including the migratory Monarch Butterfly.

PennDOT's Pollinator Habitat Plan, will in partnership with other federal and state agencies, private and community organizations, create naturalized gardens and meadows planted with pollinator-friendly plant species at designated sites.

Sites within rest areas and welcome centers will provide additional public education benefit.

To learn more, visit PennDOT’s Pollinator Habitat Plan webpage. Questions about this statewide program should be directed to Antonia Zawisa, PennDOT Environmental Analysis Unit, by calling 814-765-0588 or sending email to: azawisa@pa.gov.

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Pollinator/Native Plant Resources

There are lots of resources available to help property owners landscape with native plants, and now is the best time to start planning for Spring projects. Here are just of a few of the resources available--

-- DCNR Landscaping With Native Plants

-- Game Commission: Common Beneficial Plants Found In Wildlife Habitat

-- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Native Plants For Wildlife Habitat And Conservation Landscaping

-- Chesapeake Bay Sustainable Landscape Professional Directory

-- Brandywine Conservancy: Forested Riparian Buffer Planting Guide

-- Audubon PA: Bird Habitat Recognition Program

-- National Audubon: Native Plants Database

-- Xerces Society For Invertebrate Conservation

-- Gardening For Butterflies: Penn State Extension

-- Planting For Pollinators: Penn State Extension

-- Center For Pollinator Research, Penn State

-- Pennsylvania Pollinator Protection Plan - Learn Why Pollinators Are At Risk In PA