Archives: 2018 Abstracts

Route 2 is a four-lane divided highway carrying large volumes of traffic as a major transportation connector for Boston commuters. In Concord, MA, Route 2 bisects valuable wildlife habitat and would otherwise serve as barrier to migration. MassDOT has constructed multiple tunnels under Route 2 in Concord to facilitate the safe passage of wildlife. In 2015, MassDOT completed their fifth underpass providing valuable habitat connectivity to contiguous high-quality habitat on either side of the roadway. To evaluate the efficacy of the tunnel, MassDOT completed a multifaced monitoring plan. Now the third year, monitoring has shown a high diversity of wildlife utilization. The monitoring plan employed track beds, camera traps, road mortality surveys, and snow tracking. Three track beds consisting of timber frames filled with sand were monitored for eight weeks in the spring, data for each track path was recorded including species, direction, and photos. At each bed, a camera trap consisting of an infrared trail camera, was installed and angled across the bed. Additional traps were installed at each entrance and angled down the tunnel. Road mortality meander surveys were conducted within 25-feet of the roadway for 500-ft in either direction along both sides of the highway. Any sign of wildlife within or adjacent to the roadway was recorded. Snow tracking included meander surveys for wildlife sign within a 25-foot radius of the tunnel entrances after any qualifying snow event. Multiple trends have been discovered. During the first year, most species consisted of rodents, raccoon (Prycon lotor), and turtles. In the second year, species diversity shifted to include more predators and a noticeable reduction in prey species. The road mortality survey yielded particularly peculiar results, with a large number of eastern painted turtles (Chresymes picta picta) being encountered through both vehicular strikes and live encounters in the first year and, no eastern painted turtles were observed in the second. Snow tracking recorded only two species during the first year: white-tail deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and an unidentified rodent. The second year recorded a drastic increase in wildlife including coyote, racoon, and others. Construction of the wildlife tunnels has offered wildlife populations a unique opportunity to access valuable habitats that would otherwise be fragmented by a heavily-travelled highway. Utilization of the tunnel has increased since the completion of construction, thereby demonstrating its importance in the landscape. It is expected that as time progresses, wildlife populations will better utilize the tunnel as they become accustomed to its presence. Research into the efficacy of the tunnel will continue through 2021. MassDOT and MassWildlife have also developed a multifaceted program, Linking Landscapes, addressing ecological and conservation goals through collaborative planning, research, and on-the-ground projects incorporating ecological considerations.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

The South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) is responsible for maintenance and operation of the Atlantic City Expressway and the Atlantic City International Airport, a multi-use federal aviation facility, to promote economic development opportunity in southern New Jersey.The SJTA prides itself on its continual advancement of regional transportation infrastructure while at the same time promoting environmental conservation and stewardship. This presentation will focus on the SJTA’s efforts in managing environmental resources in relation to two projects: the Atlantic City International Airport Expansion Project and the Atlantic City Expressway Widening Project. Both projects are located within an ecologically sensitive region known as the NJ Pinelands National Reserve, a US Biosphere Reserve.As part of a long-term airport expansion plan, SJTA developed a 290-acre Grassland Conservation and Management Area to compensate for loss of habitat for state listed grassland birds. The goal of the grassland restoration project was to create sufficient grassland habitat for multiple state threatened species, to offset the loss of habitat due to the planned airport expansion. The SJTA entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the New Jersey Pinelands Commission and a Record of Decision with the Federal Aviation Administration which approved the proposed work and set forth environmental commitments that guide the project activities. The project consisted of a variety grassland restoration techniques to convert scrub/shrub dominated areas into grasslands made up of mostly warm-season grasses including root raking, disk harrowing, the manual removal or shrubs, drum chopping, herbicide applications, and prescribed burning. Additional components of the project included the protection and expansion of pollinator habitat within airport property. The ACE Widening Project included 30 miles of highway widening and improvement of toll technology along a 30-mile portion of the Expressway. During project design, the SJTA met several regulatory requirements by implementing design elements to address potential impacts. These elements included wildlife crossings along the highway corridor to address the fragmentation of state threatened species habitat and the utilization of existing highway right-of-way to implement pollinator habitat restoration. These plantings provide enhancement to the local pollinator ecosystem and beautification of the corridor, while providing the added benefit of lower maintenance costs to the SJTA.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

Turtle population dynamics rely on the longevity of adults to compensate for low recruitment rate in juveniles. These reptiles cannot recover rapidly from the loss of individuals through road mortality and could experience significant population declines even leading to local extinction. In 2012, a study was initiated to document turtle roadkill rates along Quebec’s Road 245, identified as a threat to the Wood Turtle population in the adjacent Missisquoi Nord River. Results from the first two years of data collection were sufficient to identify some of the problem areas. A partnership with local and regional stakeholders (such as Quebec’s ministries of Forests, Wildlife & Parks (MFFP) and Transportation, Sustainable Mobility & Electrification of Transports (MTMDET), as well as the municipality of West Bolton, QC) was initiated to implement roadkill mitigation measures in the most severely impacted areas. Quebec’s Ministry of Transportation (MTMDET) integrated several elements of mitigation to its scheduled culvert replacement work in order to facilitate safe turtle movement under the road. Led by the MTMDET, every step of the culvert replacement and mitigation works were completed in consultation with partners. All partners played a key role towards successful project completion, and will remain involved with structure maintenance and follow-up study for a minimum period of 3 years. Lessons learnt from existing turtle passages visited in New England at the planning stage led to the inclusion of specific features to the first turtle crossing in Quebec, and highlighted the critical need for adequate maintenance and follow-up once wildlife passage are installed. Results from the first year of the follow-up study will be available by the time the Northeastern Transportation & Wildlife Conference is held in September 2018 and will be presented.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners collaborate on all transportation projects in Atlantic salmon critical habitat. Atlantic salmon critical habitat is found throughout two-thirds of the state which equates to hundreds of projects that must undergo review. Historically this has been a lengthy and time-consuming process which has limited project construction, potential conservation, and it has even strained partnerships. In 2017, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and multiple partners came together to craft two agreements which expedite consultations, but more importantly, maximize conservation. These agreements can serve as a model for conservation with state and federal partners, as they have already delivered commendable results in Maine. Every reviewed project under the agreements maximizes the conservation opportunity presented at the each site, and therefore receives expedited consultation. With a focus on culverts and bridges, the projects under the agreements open up new habitat for not just Atlantic salmon, but all aquatic species in the area. The presenters will display data, before/after photos, and video media to show the audience exactly what maximizing conservation opportunities can look like. The process and projects are still evolving, but early results show promise for habitat in Maine.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

Two State Agencies, New Hampshire Department of Transportation (NHDOT) and New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) are collaborating to develop a wetland and stream mitigation process known as the Stream Passage Improvement Program (SPIP). The SPIP will provide an incentive for NHDOT to fulfill their mitigation needs for stream losses by improving or replacing a critical crossing on the state or municipal roadway system identified in the community near a NHDOT project area as a form of permittee responsible mitigation. In lieu of an Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) fund payment, the money to mitigate the impacts of the transportation project would be directed towards the repair or replacement of state owned and/or municipal infrastructure. For this to operate effectively, a statewide inventory of stream crossings is critical to inform decisions relative to mitigating and prioritizing crossings most incompatible with geomorphic river processes , aquatic organism passage (AOP), and structural condition. This has lead to the data collection efforts of the New Hampshire Stream Crossing Initiative. The implementation of the Aquatic Restoration Mapper provides an initial site screening layer that can be used to help identify assets to address. The data is stored in the NH Statewide Asset Data Exchange System (SADES) program, spearheaded by the University of New Hampshire Technology Transfer Center. This multiagency collaboration is essential for the success of this program and for crossings to be upgraded throughout the state. As part of the SPIP, NHDOT may collect additional crossing data in a project area to enhance the inventory and improve mitigation decision making. If NHDOT determines through its evaluation of potential SPIP sites that it’s preferable to provide an ARM Fund payment the NHDOT will still be able to share with the municipalities, or other eligible organizations, the high quality information gathered during the evaluation process which would provide beneficial information to a municipality or organization when considering to apply for an ARM Fund grant as a local replacement project. This new process is designed to inform NHDOT, local decision makers and advocates about the importance of properly designed and maintained culverts and bridges for improved fish and wildlife passage and aquatic connectivity with the benefit of public safety improvement. A key component to the success of this program has been the development of the culvert ranking system and Aquatic Restoration Mapper that is used to aid in the preparation of a priority list which identifies crossings that are failing in regards to aquatic organism passage, geomorphic compatibility, and the condition of the structure.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

Transportation projects require multiple Federal permits and reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), in addition to environmental reviews as part of regulations such as the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act. In a linear, sequential review process, agencies conduct separate reviews and develop separate documents. Sequential reviews can result in duplicative efforts by the transportation project sponsor and resource and regulatory agencies (e.g., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fish and Wildlife Service). The Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) is promoting synchronized (rather than sequential) processes for faster and more cost-effective project delivery and better environmental outcomes through the Every Day Counts-4 (EDC-4) ‘Integrating NEPA and Permitting’ initiative and related programs.

For example, FHWA is helping state departments of transportation conduct needs assessments and develop banking, public-private, and other innovative approaches to stream, wetland, and conservation mitigation. A lack of appropriate mitigation during project development can cause permitting delays of months to years, as construction cannot fully begin until mitigation commitments are in place. FHWA is also developing a Programmatic Mitigation Guidebook to help agencies apply mitigation programmatically across multiple projects at the landscape level. This best practices guide will help transportation agencies deploy 23 CFR 450.214 (Development of Programmatic Mitigation Plans) which is eligible for federal aid in Planning. In addition, FHWA is sponsoring EPA to conduct a study on tidal restrictions caused by undersized culverts and bridges, to better understand how such restrictions impact aquatic organism passage, hydraulic connectivity, and the infrastructure asset. This synthesis is also exploring the opportunity to leverage restoration of such crossings for mitigation on a project and landscape scale. Taken together, these activities are expected to encourage earlier and more frequent coordination among agencies, build trust, and reduce duplication during environmental reviews.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

On the heels of a federal mandate to establish risk-based transportation asset management plans, MaineDOT has created a matrix that applies landscape-level information on an asset-specific or program-wide basis. Generally, it has been projects' landscape or ecosystem context in combination with specific scopes and practices that have constrained project delivery schedules and threatened budgets. Contextual elements that pose inordinate risk include the presence of an endangered species; hydrologic and hydraulic limitations; natural resource impacts; and/or traffic management. MaineDOT created its “Transportation Risk Assessment for Project Planning and Delivery” (TRAPPD) to provide a numeric comparison using only existing data and information, or “proxy indicators”, significantly reducing costs associated with gathering large amounts of new asset information. Using TRAPPD online, asset managers view combined risk scores as well as individual proxy indicator scores and adjust expectations for project cost and delivery in real time, prior to any inclusion of a project into a work plan. This capability represents a transition from a proof-of-concept tool to ecosystem-based, automated, transferable, and risk-based decision-making. This presentation will demonstrate TRAPPD and discuss its adoption in planning and project development.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

New Jersey has faced increasing habitat loss and fragmentation from steady urbanization and a dense network of roads for several decades that are compromising the connectivity of habitats and wildlife populations. In fact, urbanized land is now the dominant land cover type in the state. All of New Jersey’s terrestrial species of greatest conservation need are negatively impacted by habitat loss and fragmentation; effects that are likely to be exacerbated by a changing climate. Recognizing these threats, the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife formed a multi-partner, multi-disciplinary working group in October 2012 (representing over 100 individuals from over 40 different agencies across the state) to develop a statewide habitat connectivity plan, called Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ). This year, CHANJ released a map package (available for download and as a web app) identifying core terrestrial wildlife habitats and linkages across the state, and a guidance document highlighting actions to restore and maintain those key areas for wildlife connectivity through strategic land preservation, habitat management, and road barrier mitigation. The CHANJ map package contains additional layers to assist with prioritization and decision-making, including Habitat Stepping Stones, Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Preserved Lands, Road Segment Analyses, North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC) Road-Stream Crossing Assessments conducted in New Jersey, and a Road/Wildlife Mitigation Database. The CHANJ products are intended to allow land-use, conservation, and transportation planners to operate in a more collaborative way, leveraging New Jersey’s open space investment, increasing road safety, increasing permit efficiency, and ultimately improving the prospects for the long-term sustainability of New Jersey’s terrestrial wildlife.The CHANJ project is now transitioning from the development stages into the implementation phase. We have formed implementation teams covering the northern, central, and southern regions of the state, with members including natural resource managers, transportation planners, conservation professionals, communicating regularly about new opportunities to advance habitat connectivity in their regions. We are also collaborating on a variety of research projects to more closely evaluate the functional connectivity of New Jersey’s landscape, the results of which are helping to validate the CHANJ mapping and refine the guidance we provide.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

This presentation is a case study of the grassroots effort that conceptualized, funded, designed, and constructed two wildlife crossing structures, to facilitate the safe crossing of a regionally significant and diverse amphibian population in Addison County, Vermont. The structures are exceeding expectations and preforming extraordinarily well - providing safe passage to thousands of amphibians, as well as many small- to medium-sized mammals. This project was awarded a 2017 (biennial) FHWA Environmental Excellence Award.Stuart Udall's quote, "conservation is no sport for the short-winded" resonates loud and clear with the partners that have worked for over a decade to construct two amphibian tunnels in Monkton, Vermont. This presentation will be a case study of the effort (primarily grassroots driven) that successfully conceptualized, funded, designed, and constructed two wildlife-crossing structures. These structures are primarily designed to facilitate the safe crossing of a regionally significant and diverse amphibian population in Addison County, Vermont that was being severely impacted by traffic on an increasingly busy rural town road. This project took over a decade to go from conceptual idea to implementation. After the first year of post-construction monitoring, it is evident that the structures are exceeding expectations and preforming extraordinarily well - providing safe passage to thousands of amphibians, as well as many small- to medium-sized mammals! These crossing structures were not part of a larger transportation project, but rather are stand-alone infrastructure improvements that provide habitat connectivity under a town highway that was significantly impacting amphibian populations. Moreover, this case study will highlight the process of building and sustaining a strong partnership from the grassroots to implement an infrastructure solution. So while this presentation will indeed highlight some of the nuts-and-bolts details of the project design, it is primarily about how a group of volunteers partnered with governmental organizations to accomplish a task generally thought to be the charge of governmental organizations.The author of this presentation straddled his professional world as an environmental resource professional in a transportation agency, and his civilian world as the Chair of the Monkton (VT) Conservation Commission with this project. The core group included a biologist with expertise in reptile and amphibian conservation and management. Having professional knowledge of the complexities and nuances transportation project development and wildlife management was essential to the success of the team. This presentation will share some of the lessons the core group learned about building wildlife crossings, in the hopes that future grassroots efforts may have an easier road to navigate because of these lessons learned. The presentation will focus on the challenges of building and sustaining public support for a project that can, at times, seem like a fringe idea in a rural community. The presentation will share some of the social and political challenges and roadblocks that arose. It will also articulate some of the things the core group would have done differently, “knowing what we know now.”
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

In Massachusetts, the Department of Transportation Highway Division (MassDOT), Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Fish and Game and its Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (MassWildlife), Restoration (DER), and Marine Fisheries Divisions (MarineFisheries), all understand the importance of resilient ecological and transportation systems. Through the course of state regulatory processes, resources are protected, mitigated and sometimes improved on a per project basis; however, the regulatory process has limited reach and sometimes limited flexibility to do more . Further, past regulatory interactions between the transportation authorities and natural resource agencies could be at odds due to limited coordination and development of mutual interests. Presently, agencies in Massachusetts are collaborating both inside and outside of the regulatory realm to develop better projects, programs and initiatives to address some of the vulnerabilities to our ecosystems and transportation network, while improving habitat and conserving species . This panel presentation will highlight the collaborations between Massachusetts’ transportation, resource and regulatory agencies to create more resilient ecosystems and infrastructure, while also working more cohesively to reach mutual goals. Discussion topics will include: overview of the various state partnerships; MassWildlife’s regulatory and non-regulatory habitat restoration efforts; MassDOT’s new project intake tool with environmental/vulnerability screening capability; synopsis of MassDOT’s asset vulnerability research; DER’s Culvert Replacement Municipal Assistance Grants and trainings for local road managers; MarineFisheries GIS-based diadromous fish restoration tool; MassDEP efforts on post-TS Irene restoration and permitting MassDOT bridge projects; Massachusetts Wildlife Climate Action Tool; and examples of ‘on-the-ground’ stream crossing improvements, habitat restoration projects , and other unique project-specific collaborations.
LOCATION: ROOM: Campus Center Auditorium

Populations of pollinators such as honey bees, native bees, flies, and butterflies, have been declining over the last few decades. The decline is nationwide and due to several factors, but primarily pesticide use and habitat loss. In 2017, the once common rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinus) became the first bumble bee in the United States to be declared endangered. Because pollinators serve an important economic service, the decline of pollinators is concerning and has caught the attention of the Federal government. A task force was assigned to find solutions to reverse the trend. As part of that effort, federal and state agencies that receive federal funding are assessing their operations and what they can do to help with the pollinator conservation.As Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have jurisdiction over large swaths of land which must be maintained as grassland, participation of these agencies is vital to the pollinator conservation effort. A number of DOTs have begun to implement measures to create large contiguous tracts of pollinator habitat along roadway corridors, such as the “monarch highway.” In the Northeast, MaineDOT recently conducted habitat research to define plant communities on the interstate along with a pollinator study, and is currently implementing vegetation management plans that integrate reduced mowing and vegetation management to create naturalized areas. MassDOT has a number of areas where mowing has been reduced and several pollinator habitat pilot sites across the state. In this session, DOTs will share their experiences and lessons learned and will provide recommendations on how other DOTs, landowners, and others can help create naturalized areas that provide habitat for pollinators.
LOCATION: ROOM: Campus Center Auditorium

With an estimated 17,500 stream crossings in New Hampshire, several programs in the state are collaborating to address the impacts of inadequate stream crossings on aquatic habitat, stream connectivity, and public safety. The New Hampshire Stream Crossing Initiative is a multi-agency partnership with the goal to inventory stream crossings throughout the state to inform data driven decisions on where to focus efforts to reestablish aquatic connectivity, enhance fish habitat, and increase flood resiliency. With the leadership of the New Hampshire Geological Survey and the Wetlands Bureau at the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, NH Department of Transportation, NH Fish and Game, and NH Homeland Security and Emergency Management have partnered to address the pervasive problem of undersized and deficient crossings, and identify those that need to be replaced or retrofitted. Since 2008, state agencies, along with regional planning commissions, have collected data on fish passage, geomorphic compatibility, and flood vulnerability at 5,500 crossings across the state. To help determine which culverts should be upgraded to maximize habitat connectivity, the local fish community and ecological setting need to be taken into consideration. In 2017, NH Fish and Game developed spatial data highlighting important aquatic habitat based on fish survey records collected at over 4,000 sites over several decades. This statewide dataset identifies stream reaches that are important to aquatic species of concern, habitat corridors supporting migratory fish restoration, and areas where the State has invested resources into ongoing conservation work. As more stakeholders become interested in using this information, the challenge is posed on how to deliver these data to the public to assist in prioritizing restoration projects for mitigation funds. This presentation will introduce new web maps that provide stream crossing, fish habitat, and flood vulnerability data to assist in identifying candidate culvert replacement and stream restoration projects. The New Hampshire Aquatic Restoration Mapper is now available to provide culvert assessment data, fishery information, flood hazard reports, and other ecological information that should be considered when prioritizing culvert replacements. This information is readily available to grant applicants that are considering submitting a proposal to support culvert replacements and stream restoration projects. A final key component to replacing aquatic barriers is determining funding sources and understanding the selection criteria and requirements for eligible projects. The Aquatic Resource Mitigation (“ARM”) Fund is the state in-lieu fee program that provides grant funds to support significant habitat restoration and protection projects, and has funded several culvert upgrades in recent years. One project in Swanzey will be highlighted which restored aquatic organism passage, particularly for brook trout, by removing a deficient culvert located upstream of the confluence with the Ashuelot River. The replaced culvert improved a potentially hazardous crossing, restored stream geomorphology, and now provides approximately 15 miles of barrier free passage. The presentation will conclude with an overview of the ARM criteria developed to evaluate stream restoration projects and the funds available for culvert replacement.
LOCATION: ROOM: Campus Center Auditorium

The Great Marsh Barriers Assessment (Barriers Assessment) was conducted by the Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA) as a component of a multifaceted project funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation through the Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program and led by the National Wildlife Federation. The Barriers Assessment inventoried, assessed, and prioritized more than 1,000 human made structures that may impede flow, fluvial and coastal processes. These structures include dams, non-tidal stream/river crossings, tidal crossings, and coastal stabilization structures in a 280 square mile portion of northeastern Massachusetts. We assessed these structures based on both ecological impact and infrastructure risk using a combination of existing analyses, newly applied screening tools and local knowledge.In addition to acting as wildlife migration barriers, these structures also often severely alter natural flow, flooding and sediment transport regimes and can result in significant negative impacts to the ecology and system resilience. The biological and ecological impacts of such changes to the river system can be profound. The risk to roads and other infrastructure associated with barriers are also significant as has been seen during large rain events such as Hurricane Sandy (2012), Hurricane Irene (2011) and the 2006 Mother’s Day Storm which is the storm of record in the study area. Flooding events such as these test aging and undersized infrastructure with sometimes dangerous and often costly results as roads, railways and other infrastructure is damaged and destroyed as structure fail or under perform. In light of aging infrastructure, increasing storm severity and shrinking budgets municipalities and other government entities have an increased need to prioritize the riskiest structures for upgrade and replacement. At the same time, habitat restoration practitioners have given greater attention to the impact some of these structures have on valuable ecosystems and ecosystem services. Restoration practitioners too have identified the need to prioritize the structures with the highest cost-benefit ratios for improvements. In many cases, there is considerable overlap between ecosystem impact and infrastructure risk, but rarely are these two concerns considered together. This study integrates prioritization efforts for infrastructure and ecological concerns to identify sites where both can be addressed, benefitting communities by promoting more resilient infrastructure and ecosystems.This comprehensive approach provides a novel, regional assessment of aquatic barriers. This framework is flexible and could easily be applied to other regions. It will allow municipal officials, restoration practitioners and others to identify and further pursue work at sites while considering their position and relative impact within the landscape and watershed. For this presentation, we will focus on the process used and the utility of this type of approach, using road-stream crossings as our example structure type.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

Hurricanes Irene and Sandy were a wake-up call to many residents of the Northeast about the need for improved flood resiliency and emergency preparedness. The damage to roadway crossings caused by these storms, coupled with the success of recent watershed-scale road-stream crossing assessments, have spurred interest in developing standardized methods for road-stream crossing assessment in Rhode Island. The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) is developing an integrated assessment approach and technical manual that will outline methods to assess present and future extreme flood vulnerability and the aquatic passability of roadway crossing structures in Rhode Island, in collaboration with stakeholders and the state advisory committee. The manual will provide guidance and tools for RIDOT and Rhode Island cities and towns to prioritize replacement of culverts and bridges that are vulnerable to extreme flood events under present and future climate conditions and that prevent passage by aquatic organisms, given limited financial resources and aging transportation infrastructure. The approach for prioritizing road-stream crossings will integrate multiple factors, including hydraulic capacity, flooding impact potential, disruption of local and emergency services, geomorphic vulnerability, structural condition, aquatic organism passage, and climate change. The recommended approach will be consistent with methods used for similar large-scale road-stream crossing assessments previously performed within the region, but will also incorporate recent advancements in assessment and prioritization techniques, digital data collection, and lessons learned from previous road-stream crossing assessments. The manual will describe methods that can be applied state-wide in inland and coastal settings and that utilize standard, widely-available and/or non-proprietary software to allow implementation by a wide range of users, including state agencies, municipalities, and watershed groups. The methods and guidance presented in the technical manual will be used to complete a pilot study in the Woonasquatucket River watershed, ultimately resulting in a list of priority road crossing structures in the watershed that can be upgraded as part of planned capital improvements (e.g., road rehabilitation or reconstruction). This presentation will describe the purpose, approach, and methodology of the manual and pilot study, as well as lessons learned and implications for future research and policy needs.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

The Massachusetts Project Intake Tool (MaPIT) is a web-based application designed to help both state and municipal proponents map, create, and initiate roadway projects, while screening against all relevant in-house GIS resources. MaPIT, which went live in October 2017, provides a user friendly, web-based environment for populating Project Need and Project Initiation Forms, which are partially auto-completed based upon the GIS resources associated with the project location. Furthermore, the automated GIS analysis conducts planning phase environmental screening, which is critical to understanding a project’s environmental constraints and considerations, and subsequently, the development of adequate consultant scopes of work. This presentation will include an overview of the application’s development along with a live demonstration of its environmental screening capabilities.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

Hurricane Sandy, Tropical Storm Lee, and numerous unnamed, isolated, high-intensity, short-duration storm/flood events have resulted in major infrastructure damage in recent years. This session will present case studies for three projects that improve resiliency and sustainability of vulnerable infrastructure by using Natural Stream Channel Design and Restoration techniques for integrated habitat enhancement .We will look at opportunities where infrastructure rehabilitation and replacement are paired effectively with stream restoration activities. Such projects include roads; bridges; culverts; sewers; storm sewers/outfalls; other utilities and green infrastructure; park, recreation, and trail facilities; and the creation, restoration, and reconnection of natural resources including floodplains, wetlands and riparian buffers and aquatic habitat. Understanding the storm event, failure mechanisms, and associated existing/pre-existing conditions associated prior upstream alterations is critical to determining the appropriate restorative measures that will survive severe weather events. In order to predict and model proposed stream restoration treatments and required scour countermeasures, we need to understand and evaluate a project area’s underlying geology, soils, stream channel morphology, watershed hydrology, and local hydraulic (scour) characteristics. We will review the following case studies which are located in different physiographic provinces with varying watershed and site-specific hydrogeologic and severe weather event characteristics:• SR 2075 Bridge Replacement, Muddy Creek Tributary to the Susquehanna River, York County, PALower Piedmont, confined valley/deep alluvium, historic alterations constrained by former railroad and roads.• Oakwood Beach Flood Attenuation, Mill Run Tributaries to Lower Bay, Staten Island, NYLower Coastal Plain, glacial outwash and coastal sands, stormwater outfalls and sanitary sewer lines.• SR 1003, Bridge Replacement and Embankment Reconstruction, Wallis Run, Tributary to Loyalsock Creek, Gamble Township, Lycoming County, PAAlleghany front, glacial outwash and deposition.Case studies will identify site constraints, TMDL development opportunities, restoration approaches, and design considerations for habitat enhancement.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

With ever-tightening budgets and limited resources there is increasing pressure to efficiently deliver transportation projects as focus shifts to maintaining an aging infrastructure. Resource and staffing constraints are felt by Departments of Transportation and the regulatory agencies that play a pivotal role in the project delivery process. The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CTDEEP) Fisheries Division (Fisheries) have worked to improve and streamline fisheries resource review and have realized great efficiencies while building a strong sister-agency relationship. CTDOT and Fisheries have a long history of coordination in the review of projects and incorporation of fisheries enhancements into designs. However, the timing of the reviews and requests for fisheries design elements often came at late stages of design, causing complications and conflicts with schedules. The most effective streamlining tool has been to have Fisheries staff involved earlier in the design process. Commitments to early review timelines (3 months) by Fisheries staff has allowed for the early identification of fisheries resources within project limits, essentially “red-flagging” issues and ensuring proper consideration during the development of design alternatives. Fisheries staff been invited to participate in interagency coordination meetings between CTDOT and members of other regulatory programs. This encourages cooperative decision making when design constraints force a “choice” between resources and design elements; those decisions are memorialized for inclusion in permit documents. We have also identified an interagency working group for dispute resolution and on-going process improvement which has opened the lines of communication between the agencies. Permits now include a separate fisheries “plan set”, focusing on proposed in-water work, “signed-off” by Fisheries staff for inclusion in permit documents ensuring regulatory reviewers at CTDEEP that Fisheries’ comments have been incorporated into designs. This has eliminated the need for Fisheries staff to review permit packages during State regulatory review. Fisheries staff now work side-by-side CTDOT engineering staff in the design of complex fisheries habitat enhancements such as fishways used to retrofit structures which block fish passage. This cooperative approach reduces timeframes and results in improved designs. The use of Memorandums of Agreement (MOAs) have allowed novel approaches for the mitigation of unavoidable impacts. MOAs have been used to fund research which will benefit both agencies, and have provided off-site mitigation that benefits such things as important economic sport fisheries in the State. The CTDOT Office of Environmental Planning (OEP) is currently in the process of the development of a Fish Passage Design manual with Fisheries for CTDOT projects. Working with Fisheries, the first step has been to standardize the construction details and specifications for various in-stream habitat enhancements. This will improve consistency in contracting and aid CTDOT Construction staff as they work alongside Fisheries staff for the approval of materials used in the enhancements and oversee the installation in the field. Improved communication and cooperative efforts have allowed us to implement habitat enhancements on many CTDOT projects. The presentation will include example projects and success stories of the fisheries improvements that this cooperative approach has facilitated.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

Following the adoption of Quebec’s Land Use Planning Act nearly 40 years ago, land use and urban planning issues have grown to take a significant part of rural municipalities’ daily activities. Municipalities are increasingly realizing that conventional development models, often poorly adapted to the particularities of each region, are unsustainable in the long term, specifically with regards to wildlife, landscapes and water management, which form an integral part of rural areas in southern Quebec. Appalachian Corridor, a regional conservation organization working in the Appalachians of southern Quebec, has been raising awareness about the urgency to take biodiversity, connectivity and ecological services into consideration as part of local and regional ordinances. Indeed, through the implementation of a transborder conservation strategy, the NGO works with local communities to maintain and restore a way of life that respects the ecology of the region from a perspective of sustainable development. Appalachian Corridor shared its expertise on landscape-scale planning with local and regional authorities, particularly those municipalities whose territory featured critical wildlife linkages threatened by increasing development pressure. The municipality of Austin, QC, features breathtaking landscapes as well as the most critical wildlife linkage maintaining connectivity between Mount Chagnon to the south and Mount-Orford Provincial Park to the north. However, Highway 10 (link between Montreal and Sherbrooke) fragments this municipality’s territory and makes it attractive to developers branding it as the ideal location for a peaceful, rural way of life with easy access to major cities. In Austin, QC, local officials were receptive to Appalachian Corridor’s message and realized the urgency of the situation. They took advantage of the overhauling of urban planning by-laws to incorporate the notion of wildlife corridors and integrate provisions within the zoning by-law in targeted areas to increase habitat connectivity and facilitate wildlife movements. The NGO-municipality partnership was an essential component of this successful venture and other municipalities are now looking to follow in the footsteps of Austin, a precursor in Quebec.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

Connect The Coast is a project that identifies wildlife corridors within and beyond New Hampshire’s coastal watershed—from the north shore of Massachusetts to southwestern Maine. Initially developed with a focus on land conservation, the project also identifies important wildlife crossings zones at roadways, which are critically important in creating and addressing a network of connected and protected lands between core habitats. This will be a more technical presentation focused on conservation planning. It will provide details about the project’s methodology, from developing base GIS layers and identifying nodes for model input, to the GIS-based model used to identify wildlife corridors. Key takeaways relating to mitigating the effects of roads on wildlife movement will also be discussed.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

Roads and road mortality threaten the ability of wildlife to move across the landscape to find food and water and areas to rest, breed, and raise their young. Wildlife populations can be reduced or even become locally extinct due to direct mortality from collisions and from the inability to move to various habitats during their life cycle. Wide-ranging wildlife movements have become even more important, as habitats shift due to climate change and animals adapt by moving to find more suitable habitat. Turtles are particularly vulnerable to road mortality because they are long lived, late to reproduce, and slow-moving. Roadkill is a major source of adult mortality for all turtle species in Maine, and the loss of even a few individuals every year can lead to the decline and local extinction of some populations. Wildlife-vehicle collisions are also a serious safety issue for drivers, and even small animals in the roadway can lead drivers to swerve, brake, or otherwise cause a dangerous situation. Beginning in 2018 and continuing through 2020, Maine Audubon, in partnership with the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MIFW) and the Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), will coordinate a statewide Citizen Science effort to identify areas of high turtle mortality associated with roads. Data will be collected using iNaturalist so information can be accessed immediately by project coordinators, rather than waiting until the end of the season. Data will be used to identify potential turtle roadkill “hotspots” and to identify landscape and roadway characteristics that might increase turtle mortality. The results of these analyses can then be used by MaineDOT and MDIFW to develop mitigation strategies for improving turtle survival associated with roadways. Focusing wildlife road crossing surveys on turtles, will yield predictive data for one of the most sensitive wildlife taxa to road mortality. While all of Maine’s turtles are of interest, this project will especially focus on modeling and monitoring the road crossing behavior of four species: Blanding’s turtles (state endangered), spotted turtles (state threatened), snapping turtles, and painted turtles. While each species has unique life history and habitat needs, we predict that the landscape, roadway, and crossing structure features associated with mortality in any one of these turtle species are more similar to one another than to mammals, birds, or other highly vagile taxa. This project utilizes the power of citizen scientists across Maine, who have an interest in improving wildlife habitat connectivity and safety within their local area. By utilizing iNaturalist and simple, streamlined survey protocols, we expect an increase in public interest and participation in the project, and therefore in the amount of data collected. We will present our methodology for modeling turtle-road hotspots, route identification, and survey protocols, as well as preliminary results from the 2018 field season.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

As roadways impact amphibian and reptile population sizes, disrupt connectivity, and degrade habitat, mitigation measures are increasingly being implemented. Barrier-ecopassage systems are a common strategy used to mitigate roadway impacts. Barriers limit access to roadways and may direct animals toward ecopassages, which are corridors designed to conduct animals safely over or under the roadway. We assessed use and preference of various ecopassage parameters by utilizing manipulative choice experiments and an observational choice experiment along a two-lane highway in southeastern Ohio. Using amphibians, and some reptiles, we tested preference for the aperture size of passages, levels of sky exposure in the passages, and maintenance of ability to see across the passage. Testing animals throughout 2017, We found that amphibians prefer passages that are 100cm wide, provide 90% sky exposure, and maintain full sight across the passage. The results from the manipulative and observational experiments did not vary significantly, and our observational experiment was able to reduce mortality along the roadway stretch where it was in place. These findings have potential implications for the implementation of future barrier-ecopassage mitigation projects.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

Fencing is one of the most effective mitigation measures used to reduce road kill however, little research is known about what materials work best to exclude herpetofauna from roads and there are a lot of concerns surrounding the safety and effectiveness of mesh fencing. This research attempts to fill this gap of knowledge and evaluates the effectiveness of mesh and Animex fencing by investigating their suitability to be used as solutions to protect wildlife near roads.This behavioral study explored the reactions of various herpetofauna when placed in an enclosure comprising two sides of steel mesh fencing (1/4 inch), and two sides of Animex. The activity that was recorded and compared during the observations included:1) Time spent within each fence zone2) Physical interactions with the fencing3) Climbing or escape attemptsThe results showed that the animal groups spent a greater proportion of time along the mesh fencing and all the animal groups attempted to escape the mesh fencing during more than twice as many trials as the Animex. All species except Midland Painted Turtles successfully escaped the mesh fencing; however, none escaped the Animex. Based on behaviors exhibited by animals during the trials, mesh fencing could result in injury to herpetofauna. As the goal of exclusion fencing is not only to keep animals off the road but also to funnel animals safely to wildlife crossing structures, this study recommends plastic solid barrier fencing such as Animex is the most appropriate material to be used as exclusion or drift fencing for the species studied. This study shows that mesh fencing will hinder the funneling of animals towards wildlife crossings or into adjacent habitat due to additional risk of injury, delay or escape created by the type material.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

Design standards and regulatory requirements for the construction of wildlife crossing structures are typically adapted from conventional designs for bridges supporting vehicular traffic. Overpass structures for wildlife represent a unique category of infrastructure and therefore existing regulatory standards not only limit the ability of crossings to fulfill very different requirements for use, but also restrict opportunities to realize potential savings in the costs of their construction and maintenance. This presents a significant opportunity to assess whether compliance with existing standards is required or even necessary. Next generation wildlife crossing infrastructure might include lighter, more flexible and adaptive materials, or a system of construction that is modular or even dynamic. Adopting innovations in the design of wildlife crossing infrastructure could result in more sustainable, affordable, and efficient solutions. Solutions with the potential to facilitate the widespread deployment of adaptable structures that can expand, contract, or be moved to respond to changing habitats and replaced more easily than traditional infrastructure in the event of damage from adverse weather events. Safe Passages is a federally funded research partnership led by Professor Nina-Marie Lister (Ecological Design Lab, Ryerson University) aimed at the development of an integrated approach for the sustainable planning, design, and implementation of wildlife crossing infrastructure and improved landscape connectivity. This research partnership recognizes that there is an emerging public policy and infrastructural design imperative to find new and creative ways to (re)connect our landscapes in support of the safe passage of humans and animals. The primary method for generating research outcomes within the partnership are CoLaboratories (CoLabs): research-based, collaborative studio workshops in which participants come together to apply, present, and share emerging research in the design of new solutions for human and wildlife mobility across urbanizing landscapes. This approach links stakeholders in a creative, hands-on planning and design forum to build on best practices and leading-edge technologies. CoLabs situate the research problem, animate data, realize planning and design solutions, and link these to implementation strategies within both policy and site contexts. This presentation will highlight outcomes from a Spring 2018 CoLaboratory held in Bozeman, Montana co-hosted at the Western Transportation institute by Robert Ament (WTI, Montana State University) and Nina-Marie Lister (Ecological Design Lab, Ryerson University). The CoLab generated prototypical designs and tested opportunities to construct wildlife crossing infrastructure using recycled plastics, which have been widely used in pedestrian and bicycling bridge applications. Experts in the disciplines of structural and civil engineering, wildlife ecology, urban planning, and landscape architecture and design worked together towards integrating the landscape and habitat surface with the design of an engineered bridge structure. Participants investigated the suitability of plastic bridges for applications in crossing infrastructure as well as the existing opportunities and barriers, both procedural and design based, to their uptake and widespread adoption by transportation agencies working to mitigate the incidence of wildlife-vehicle collisions. Plastic bridges may afford novel and cost-effective strategies to build ecologically integrated crossing structures for wildlife.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

The last decade has seen unprecedented changes in the scientific understanding of ecological connectivity. From the early view of simply getting animals across a road, to more in-depth structural connectivity analyses and functional connectivity monitoring, connectivity science has made rapid advancements. In this talk, we will introduce Vermont Conservation Design, a comprehensive plan for an ecologically functional landscape. Vermont Conservation Design takes connectivity analyses to the next level by beginning with the underlying physical landscape diversity and then integrating terrestrial & aquatic connectivity. The physical landscape—the underlying “stage” of the natural landscape—plays a critical role in the expression of biological diversity. With climate change expected to scramble familiar species–habitat associations and rearrange natural communities, conserving diversity in the physical landscape will be increasingly important. By representing the full diversity of topography, aspect, elevation, and geology as part of a connected natural landscape, the design helps maximize opportunities for species to shift ranges and find suitable new settings in a changing climate. This more comprehensive understanding of ecological connectivity will lead to better prioritization of transportation infrastructure, contributing to a more resilient landscape as climate changes.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

We had the unique opportunity to study large mammal movements, road crossings, and vehicle collisions in a landscape with a high-density road network. We conducted two studies, one on black bear and one on moose to predict wildlife-vehicle collision hotspots across the central and western parts of Massachusetts. For black bear, we performed a step selection function using GPS telemetry collar data from 78 bear-years. We used the probability of movement surfaces derived from the step selection function to model connectivity across the road network with factorial least-cost paths. Portions of roadway with a high density of least-cost paths were considered hotspots for black bear crossings. For moose, in addition to GPS telemetry collar data from 20 individuals, we also had 35 years of moose-vehicle collision (MVC) data. We present a new method that combines successful road crossings with vehicle collision data to identify road segments that have both high biological relevance and high risk for moose. This approach couples the predicted probability of moose road crossings with the predicted probability of MVCs to identify road segments that meet the dual criteria of having high biological relevance and high-risk for moose. We identified areas along the road network where road mitigation measures, such as fencing, animal detection systems, and large mammal crossing structures would facilitate the safe movement of black bear and moose across roadways in Massachusetts.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

Amphibian road mortality is a considerable conservation issue, particularly during the highly-synchronized annual spring migrations (“Big Nights”) undertaken by vernal pool-breeding species in the Northeast. Observed road mortality rates along even low-traffic rural roads may be high enough to lead to localized extirpation of pool-breeding amphibians, and long-term impacts of roads on amphibian population dynamics can be severe. To reduce local amphibian road mortality, the Harris Center for Conservation Education – a non-profit organization based in the Monadnock Region of southwestern New Hampshire – coordinates an annual “Salamander Crossing Brigade” program, in which trained volunteers move migrating amphibians across roads by hand during periods of peak traffic. In 2018, following ten years of crossing brigade efforts at North Lincoln Street in Keene, New Hampshire, the City of Keene agreed to close the road to vehicle traffic on Big Nights. To our knowledge, Keene is the first community in New Hampshire to institute road closures for the protection of migrating amphibians. In this talk, we’ll outline how the Harris Center and City of Keene worked together to turn citizen science data into on-the-ground amphibian conservation, and share lessons learned from our first season of road closures.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) incorporates environmentally beneficial designs into transportation projects whenever possible to promote ecological connectivity and infrastructure resiliency. These efforts by MassDOT are showcased in many recent projects including the Cape Cod Rail Trail Extension over Bass River in Dennis, Massachusetts and the Crescent Marsh Culvert Replacement Project in Saugus, Massachusetts. A recent extension of the Cape Cod Rail Trail included widening and deepening of the Bass River channel at the bridged crossing between Dennis and Yarmouth, Massachusetts. A portion of the approach embankment installed by the Cape Cod Railroad in the mid 1800’s severely encroached into Bass River and limited tidal flushing to upstream resource areas. As part of the project, a larger bridge structure was design and constructed which opened the channel to a more natural condition. Expansion of the River reduced the existing channel restriction, increased tidal flushing of the upstream ponds, promoted infrastructure resiliency, and reduced tidal currents and eddying that created a significant scour condition and were detrimental to navigation. In another Project, MassDOT is replacing a failed culvert under a private access road that has reduced tidal flushing to Crescent Marsh in Saugus, Massachusetts. Crescent Marsh is hydraulically connected to the tidally-influenced Bear Creek Estuary to the east by the existing 48-inch diameter corrugated metal pipe culvert owned by MassDOT. The Bear Creek Estuary and larger Rumney Marsh salt marsh system is a relatively undisturbed estuary and marsh complex in one of the most extensive salt marsh systems in the greater Boston metropolitan area. The current hydrologic condition of Crescent Marsh is driven by freshwater inflow from stormwater discharges including MassDOT owned stormwater outfalls as well as well as the failing culvert. Replacement of the culvert will enhance tidal flushing to 22 acres of salt marsh degraded by expansion of invasive species. Restoring flushing of salt water will naturally control the invasive species and benefit native salt marsh grasses.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

As long linear ecosystems, rivers and streams are particularly vulnerable to fragmentation. Roads and highways are receiving increased attention for their role in fragmenting stream networks, with natural resource agencies and organizations seeking opportunities to restore aquatic connectivity through culvert replacement. Given the large number of road-stream crossings that could potentially affect aquatic connectivity it is essential to carefully evaluate opportunities and set priorities for culvert replacement projects. Culvert replacement can be expensive and often requires the cooperation of local or state transportation officials. Recent severe storms in the Northeastern USA has raised concerns about the vulnerability of road-stream crossings, and transportation networks in general, to flood damage. In 2011, tropical storm Irene resulted in widespread damage to roads and highways in VT, NY and MA, including the failure of over 1000 stream crossings in Vermont alone. With climate change models forecasting storms of increasing severity and a higher frequency of severe storms, state departments of transportation are beginning to take the issue seriously. The North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC) is a network of organizations, agencies and educational institutions working together to assess road-stream crossings and set priorities for upgrades or replacement. In addition to an module for assessing the effects of bridges and culverts on aquatic connectivity, the NAACC has develop, in cooperation with the UMass Transportation Center, Federal Highway Administration and state natural resource and transportation agencies, a module to assess the structural condition of culverts. With funding from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has developed and evaluated methodologies to assess structural, hydraulic and geomorphic risks of failure, and the potential for culvert/bridge failures to disrupt emergency medical services. These risks to public safety and transportation infrastructure are being integrated with priorities for ecological restoration as part of a statewide decision support system for culvert replacement. The NAACC is using its network for field data collection to assist transportation and emergency management agencies in setting priorities for culvert and bridge replacement. A new on-line data viewer, the Stream Crossings Explorer (SCE) was developed to allow users to view, filter, and export data on ecological disruption, risk of failure, and various stream and watershed characteristics. Our objective is to facilitate cooperation among environmental, transportation and emergency management agencies and organizations in an effort to address vulnerabilities where transportation and riverine systems meet, supporting both infrastructure improvements and actions to restore aquatic connectivity.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

Many aging culverts that convey streams under Connecticut highways are being rehabilitated with “sliplining”, a technique that involves placement of a smaller diameter culvert within the larger failing culvert. Sliplining increases water velocities and may exacerbate outlet perch conditions making upstream fish passage challenging. In 2015, Fisheries staff worked with the Connecticut Department of Transportation to design and implement fish passage solutions at several sliplined culvert projects. One project located on a Tributary to Lyman Brook (TLB) will serve as a demonstration site to evaluate engineered design features and passage performance for a fragmented native Brook Trout population via passive integrated transponder (PIT) tag monitoring.The TLB project involved sliplining twin 5 ft. diameter culverts that were: 262 feet in length, slope of 4.5% and outlet perch of 1.5 feet. A cast-in-place concrete pool/weir fishway was constructed at the outlet of one perched culvert to allow fish to ascend. The fishway culvert was retrofitted with an angled corner baffle system. Mean daily flows are directed into the baffled culvert via a flow diversion wall constructed at the inlet.Brook Trout movement is being studied via stationary pit tag antennas installed below and above the culverts pre, during and post spawning life stages from 2016-2018. Preliminary results of PIT tag monitoring in 2016-17 will be discussed that include: fish passage transit times, daily/seasonal movement patterns and hydraulic characterization associated with successful passage. Information and lessons learned from this sliplining project will help guide the development and design of fish passage features at future sliplining projects.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Division (MassDOT) is committed to delivering bridge projects on time and on budget, that provide a safe and reliable transportation system to strengthen our economy and quality of life. To that end, projects must be developed appropriately to meet the needs and constraints of each municipality and project site. Although MassDOT has a robust project review process, historically, internal subject matter experts did not have the opportunity to weigh in on the conceptual design of bridges. This process lead to impacts to some project schedules and budgets, due to significant design revisions that occurred at the 25% review and permitting phases. To address this issue, the MassDOT Bridge Sections started conducting Bridge Scoping Site Visits, a field meeting at the very beginning of the bridge project development process. Now, interdisciplinary subject matter experts from both the MassDOT HQ and District Offices provide comments on-site, which are then translated to project the scope of work. Experts in bridge, hydraulics, roadway design, complete streets, utility design, right-of-way and environmental all participate in determining what types of structures should be evaluated during Bridge Type Study, which has resulted in many fewer project schedules being impacted during the 25% review process. In particular, environmental and vulnerability considerations, such as wildlife passage and river processes, are now programmatically incorporated into the bridge scoping process, which in turn is resulting in a smoother permitting process with regulatory agencies.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

Design-Build (DB) is a method of project delivery in which the design and construction phases of a project are combined into one contract, usually awarded on a best-value basis to a team consisting of a design engineering firm and construction contractor. The DB process allows the DB team to develop innovative designs and construction methods on complex projects, while providing best value through innovative design engineering and construction methods. The process also allows for the designer / contractor team to think outside of the box with regards to minimizing impacts to wetlands and protecting rare species. This presentation will showcase such efforts to protect two federal listed species of sturgeon, as well as a suite of diadromous fish, as part of two major bridge replacement projects over the Merrimack River in Massachusetts: the I-95 Whittier Bridge in Newburyport and Amesbury; and the I-495 Bridges in Haverhill.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

With the escalation in frequency and intensity of floods across the Northeast, leading to increasing road floods, culvert failures, and total washouts, stream crossings have begun to attract a growing amount of the public’s attention because of the pivotal role they play at the intersection human infrastructure and the natural environment. Such failures often have devastating repercussions on human life and safety, causing large amounts of destruction downstream and in rare cases have led to the loss of life. Impacts to the local environment are often severe as well, leading to degradation of stream water quality caused by bed and bank erosion and interruption of river processes. Even more so, stream crossings frequently fragment ecosystems and harm vulnerable species by creating barriers to the natural movement of aquatic and terrestrial organisms. To try and better understand these events, states and organizations across the Northeast have begun developing new means of analyzing a suit of risk factors affecting our transportation networks including the hydraulic capacity of culverts and bridges, ecological disruption and structural condition. Using different modeling methods, weather inputs and climate scenarios, and land cover and developmental patterns, the capacity of our infrastructure to carry a range of streamflows is currently being examined. The results of these efforts have led to an increased understanding of the resiliency of culverts, individually and within the network, and the development of metrics for ranking the importance and impact of undersized and deteriorating culverts across our states. Additionally, these results can often be examined within different organizational frameworks, such as within political boundaries (towns, counties, etc.), or at the watershed planning level, and importantly be combined with other commonly assessed metrics measuring geomorphic compatibility and ecological connectivity. By allying these data sets, unique prioritization schemes and mitigation planning is possible which address sites with shared risk factors. Finally, the development of these analytical methods enhances communication with the public about the vulnerability of the network and the properties of the infrastructure at these key points within it. States and organizations are using these data and tools for planning purposes and to direct mitigation funds to address shared goals. Interestingly, these are actively emerging programmatic efforts that showcase individual yet related work in this topic. This panel will present the work of the individual states (New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts), each focusing on their own methods and tools, reviewing the results, successes and failures experienced in analyzing the hydraulic vulnerability and flood resiliency of stream crossings in conjunction with ecological connectivity.
LOCATION: ROOM: Campus Center Auditorium

Abstract coming soon!
LOCATION: ROOM: Campus Center Auditorium

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) have created a pilot methodology for identifying the vulnerability of road-stream crossings within the Deerfield Watershed to climate change. The methodology includes an analysis of the present-day risk of structural, hydraulic, and geomorphic failure; the future risk of hydraulic failure considering predicted changes in climate; the criticality of each crossing for the purpose of ambulance services; and the status and ecological value of aquatic organism passability at each crossing.This presentation will focus on the risk of failure and criticality elements of the vulnerability analysis. It will cover the data-gathering process, including lessons learned; the network analysis of existing emergency services data, and the multiple ways we can understand the results; the future climate analysis; the multiple hydraulic models utilized, and patterns of relative risk vs. model type discovered in the analysis; the development process of a model of risk of failure related to fluvial geomorphology; and the final results for criticality, risk, and overall vulnerability, along with an introduction to the Stream Crossings Explorer webviewer (sce.echosheds.org).
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

MassDOT Highway Division, in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration, has embarked on a project to bring flood resiliency into asset management and other areas of the department's everyday work to create a more robust transportation network. This project is using data gathered on proxy variables to identify preliminary vulnerability at bridges, culverts, and road segments due to flooding and erosion. The project results will be fed into the MassDOT project development process to increase stream crossing structure and road embankment resiliency to floods; improve fish and wildlife passage at stream crossing structures; reduce water quality impacts due to improved hydraulics and less repeat flood recovery in channels; and generally support planning efforts by identifying structures that do not meet current and future design requirements and guidance.The objective of this project is to use proxy variables, including specific stream power and percent bankfull width, to perform an initial flood resiliency screen for all MassDOT inland river/stream crossing structures. Through a pilot study within the Deerfield watershed, these proxy variables were identified as initial indicators of stream crossing vulnerability. The project primarily includes the estimation of stream power and the size of MassDOT bridges and culverts relative to the bankfull channel width for the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts (20 major basins and approximately 28,000 miles of streams). GIS tools will be created and integrated into MassDOT’s developing asset management system. These tools require limited data collection and can be readily used for a quick evaluation of bridges, culverts, and road segments.Flood resiliency planning will ultimately improve functionality and cost effectiveness of MassDOT’s surface transportation investments while providing enhanced public safety, maintaining emergency responder routes, and minimizing impacts to the Massachusetts economy due to flooding and erosion.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

Maintaining and restoring habitat connectivity over broad geographical regions is a frequently cited strategy for promoting climate adaptation for terrestrial biodiversity, as many taxa will need to respond to anthropogenic warming by attempting large scale range expansions across road corridors and associated land uses. A recently developed spatial assessment of climate adaptation-related terrestrial ecosystem resiliency and connectivity (Anderson et al 2016) is available for incorporation into road ecology connectivity-oriented conservation work. This analysis used a unique coarse-filter approach to develop a spatial dataset that identifies areas that are best suited for facilitating range expansion-oriented climate change adaptation for terrestrial ecosystems. This analysis complements more commonly encountered habitat connectivity modeling assessments, which typically are based on the structural connectivity of forested habitats or species-level habitat suitability models across a given region. Like other connectivity modeling-derived habitat networks, a connected network of climate-resilient lands inevitably intersects with road infrastructure and associated road corridor land uses/ownership patterns, necessitating careful consideration of how to identify and design road corridor connectivity enhancement/restoration projects. This presentation will describe ongoing work to enhance/restore connectivity across state highways at three sites in Vermont, featuring project designs that are oriented towards maximizing climate adaptation value through the accommodation of cross road-corridor movement vector pathways of a variety of taxa. Specifically, Anderson et al’s (2016) coarse-scale spatial analysis data and underlying theory was interpreted to 1) assess the value of project locations for terrestrial climate adaptation; and 2) design site-scale infrastructure modification and habitat restoration work to maximize the potential taxonomic utilization of the site for cross-road corridor movement. Site-scale workplans are derived from a novel integration of applied theory from Anderson et al’s (2016) coarse-filter resilience framework with site-scale taxa-oriented project design considerations, thereby serving as an example of a science-informed approach to climate adaptation-related road corridor connectivity enhancement/restoration work. Specifically, the presentation will offer examples of how site-scale infrastructure modification can be combined with habitat restoration techniques such as reforestation, wetland creation/restoration, and hedgerow planting. Resulting road corridor connectivity restoration sites will be better suited for contributing to a connected lands network that is capable of accommodate climate-related range expansion needs of multiple taxa. Discussion will also feature how setting-related constraints of road corridor connectivity conservation work in in northern New England will likely influence climate adaptation benefit yield in terms of terrestrial climate resilience and connectivity.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

New Jersey is a highly developed state with 30% of its existing footprint already urbanized and some projections have the State reaching full buildout by the middle of this century. Connecting all of this development is over 11,450 miles of County, State of Federal Roadways. Multiple studies suggest vehicular traffic on these roads is life-threatening to many species of wildlife and may be creating barriers to animal movements across the landscape.In an effort to mitigate some of the deleterious effects of roadways, the NJDEP in January 2015 adopted changes to our Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules to require wildlife passages in new or rebuilt bridges in situations where the associated roadway acts to fragment suitable habitat for terrestrial species of concern. Steps taken to implement this rule language included developing a list of terrestrial species of concern, defining the conditions under which a specific roadway may be determined to fragment a habitat, developing a GIS map project that identifies roadway crossings of potential concern, developing bridge design criteria based on individual species needs and drafting a technical manual summarizing actions needed to demonstrate compliance with the new rule.To date, the implementation of these regulatory requirements has been a bumpy process. On the plus side, most projects identified as needing wildlife passages have been able to accommodate design modifications for terrestrial species of concern. In other instances, the crossing design was adapted for site or project specific conditions. On the negative side, various factors have contributed to making full implementation of the new rule requirements less than ideal. These include physical factors at the bridge crossing (e.g. steep slopes, recent development), technical factors (e.g. narrow floodplain, private lands, regulatory conflicts), and funding/cost factors of incorporating the crossing. Use of guide fencing to supplement modified crossing has also proven problematical. In addition, despite public outreach and stakeholder meetings, not all of the affected parties were aware of the new requirements early in the process. Overall, the Department is confident that moving forward, our requirements for wildlife passages will become less of a distraction and more of an accepted practice. Additionally, we hope to refine our requirements and design standards to ensure that landscape permeability goals are satisfied.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

After a flooding event, many jurisdictions find challenges in upgrading stream crossings to current codes and standards or beyond due to limitations of the FEMA Public Assistance (PA) policy constraints. This program will discuss the policy and demonstrate real world challenges faced during the Tropical Storm Irene recovery in Vermont and how those challenges were overcome through reclassification of measures as hazard mitigation. We will educate practitioners with a base knowledge of the program and how to approach repairs when FEMA funding is in play.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

A brief introduction to the other Federal-aid assistance available when disaster strikes transportation infrastructure.

The FHWA ER Program, established under 23 U.S.C. 125, applies to natural disasters and catastrophic failures of federal-aid eligible highways. The ER program provides funding to repair and restore highway facilities to pre-disaster conditions with funds limited by statute to the cost of repair or reconstruction of a comparable facility that meets the current geometric and construction standards required for the types and volume of traffic that the facility will carry over its design life. The design and construction of repairs should consider the long-term resilience of the facility, the capability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from significant multi-hazard threats with minimum damage to social well-being, the economy, and the environment. Find out how NEPA, your design standards, and the ER program all fit together.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

To track a rapidly changing climate, plants and animals must relocate to survive. In 2016, The Nature Conservancy completed an analysis of “Resilient and Connected Landscapes for Terrestrial Conservation”. This first-of-its-kind study maps climate-resilient sites, confirmed biodiversity locations, and species movement areas (zones and corridors) across Eastern North America. The study uses the information to prioritize a conservation portfolio that naturally aligns these features into a network of resilient sites integrated with the species movement zones, and thus a blueprint for conservation that represents all habitats while allowing nature to adapt and change. Dr. Patrick will provide an overview of the approaches used in developing this conservation portfolio and discuss how the data layers can be used to identify locations where roads may pose a risk to regional connectivity. The presentation will also evaluate how patterns of predicted regional movement can be used to inform the efficacy of different approaches for mitigating road barriers.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

Recent declines in managed, non-native bees have heightened general awareness of the importance of the pollination services of native bees, butterflies, and other insects and their role in the persistence of flowering plants and their ecosystems. Prescriptions of land management for pollinators is complicated by the diversity of Agency management objectives, the biology of pollinator species and communities, the composition and structure of specific habitats available for management, and the varied effects of landscape context on outcomes of habitat manipulation. Location of land managed for pollinator conservation can affect pollinator community composition; both habitat composition and pattern surrounding the managed area can affect pollinator use of the landscape. Road and powerline rights-of-way (ROW) comprise a relatively small portion of Maine’s landscape overall, however, they potentially have a disproportionate effect on pollinator communities as they may simultaneously fragment, connect, create, enhance, or compromise pollinator habitat. Although knowledge of the role of roadside and powerline ROWs in pollinator conservation is rapidly growing, most research has been more focused on understanding effects of habitat type and less focused on landscape context and pattern effects on pollinator abundance and diversity. We are conducting a review of scientific literature and meta-analysis of reported data about land management for pollinator conservation, with a focus on pollinators and plants in roadsides and rights-of-way. Meta-analyses are guided by focal questions, and responses are summarized with respect to study design and measured effects. Our proposed focal questions include: Are there specific ROW management practices that successfully enhance pollinator abundance and diversity, and which insect pollinator taxa respond to these practices? Which elements of landscape context enhance or threaten the success of ROW management for pollinator conservation? To complement our meta-analysis, we conducted bumblebee and butterfly surveys during June-August 2017 to assess relationships between pollinator and floral abundance and diversity at 10 sites in ROWs along managed Priority 1 roads in Maine. Floral richness and diversity in the surveyed ROWs was high within geographic regions, while species generally were similar among regions. Exotic flowering plants comprised at least 34-64% of observations, and greatest coverage of native flowering species was recorded during early June. Patch size per species and floral species richness were negatively correlated, whereas, total patch size of all flowering plants and species richness was positively correlated. Bumblebee species diversity was greatest during early June. We recorded no observations of the federally endangered Rusty-patched bumblebee, whereas, we found the Yellow-banded bumblebee at ~50% of surveyed locations in mid-summer, but few before or after that. Bumblebee richness, diversity, and evenness were greater along state than federal highways. Butterflies were dominated by three species, however, overall diversity was greater than for bumblebees. Statistical modeling suggests that flowering plant species richness is an important determinant of pollinator abundance along the surveyed roadsides, and there are region-specific differences in this relationship. Less intensive management of roadside vegetation that promotes flowering plant diversity and patch size will support a more diverse and abundant pollinator community along Maine’s roadsides.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

Mussel relocations are a commonly prescribed conservation strategy for bridge construction projects across the U.S. The methods and guidelines can vary widely according to State, USFWS Field Office, waterbody, species present, project circumstance and contracted biologists. Jason Dickey is an aquatic ecologist and environmental consultant with mussel experience across the U.S. He is federally permitted to handle Threatened and Endangered mussels and is regularly consulted for mussel surveys and relocations. Although based in Albany, NY, he has particular expertise with southeastern mussel species and he has performed numerous surveys and relocations for the Florida Department of Transportation. In this presentation he describes the tools, techniques, refinements, and lessons learned from his work in Florida in the hopes that these experiences may have applicability to similar projects throughout the Northeast.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

Vermont transportation and natural resource agencies and non-profit partners, as part of the Staying Connected Initiative, are continuing research to inform strategies for increasing the frequency of wildlife use of bridges and culverts for under-road wildlife movement, thereby increasing habitat connectivity between large forested habitat blocks separated by road corridors. Staring in 2014, we assessed wildlife through-passage frequency at culverts and bridges designed for fluvial conveyance to clarify relationships between structural dimensions and frequency of wildlife use of transportation structures. Eighty-four game cameras were set up at 23 culverts/bridge sites on State, US, and Interstate highways in Vermont that were located within road corridor segments identified by connectivity modeling as important for regional habitat connectivity. We selected bridges and culverts that were most likely to be used by non-rodent terrestrial mammals that 1) were in close proximity to large habitat blocks on both sides of a road corridor; 2) had at least one consistently dry “movement surface” available through the structure; 3) no “fatal flaws” and apparent suitability for use by at least two moderate to high mobility “movement guilds” of terrestrial mammals according to a version of the Passage Assessment System modified for Vermont (Shilling et al 2012). Study sites were broadly representative of the range of sizes and types of transportation structures used on road networks in the northeast that are larger than 3’ wide (large bridge spans, box culverts, arch culverts, and pipe culverts). At six of the 23 sites, we also collected game camera data on wildlife presence in habitat near monitored structures. Overall, 573 “passage events” through bridges/culverts of 13 moderate/wide ranging “focal” mammal species (excluding rodents, raccoon, woodchuck, and domestic pets) were recorded over nearly 40,000 camera monitoring days. While all but one of our sites were used by focal species to move under roadways, there was a substantial amount of variation in the frequency of use among sites, and 10 of the 23 sites yielded surprisingly low through-passage frequencies. An analysis of the effects of structure dimensions and other potentially influential site characteristics suggested that species use patterns/structure size relationships were consistent with a modified “movement guild” framework in terms of species detected in this study (with notable absence of through-passage detections for larger focal species: black bear and moose). Also, local-scale structural connectivity of forest habitat appeared to explain some of the between-site variation in through-passage frequency data. Though all sites were pre-screened for suitability for focal species use, we nevertheless found low frequencies of use in 43% of sites. Bridges and culverts in Vermont appear to poorly serves cross-road habitat connectivity needs for study focal species. With these results and preliminary results from a follow-up camera monitoring project focused on assessing the effects of structure characteristics on wildlife use at an additional 25 sites, we are building a robust set of data-based recommendations on how site and structure characteristics can be modified to improve habitat connectivity for large terrestrial wildlife in key road corridor locations.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

Across the Northern Appalachians and Acadian Mountains, transportation agencies, conservation groups, and other partners are working to maintain and restore a habitat corridor for wildlife. As part of the Staying Connected Initiative, in many locations priority road segments have been identified where roads bisect important wildlife habitat. Models and large-scale analyses can pinpoint roads that may be barriers to wildlife movement, but can’t answer the question of what impact those roads are currently having on nearby wildlife.In 2017 and 2018, Massachusetts’ Department of Transportation, Division of Fish and Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, and numerous students and volunteers developed a data “profile” of segments of route 8 and the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) in western Massachusetts. Combining roadkill data collected by citizen scientists and DOT staff, wildlife camera trapping, winter wildlife tracking, and a new protocol for surveying road-stream crossings, this single-year effort yielded a snapshot of how roads were impacting wildlife movement. On route 8, there was relatively little roadkill seen during a summer field season, and road-stream crossings varied widely in their suitability for wildlife passage. Camera trapping showed a wide range of species near roads but also fewer-than-expected crossings under bridges and culverts with dry passage. On I-90, which in many stretches in western Massachusetts is a 4-lane divided highway, roadkill data are just beginning to be collected. Surveys of road-stream crossings and camera monitoring indicated some stretches of road where culverts and bridges allowed wildlife passage of a wide range of species, and others where even very large culverts did not provide viable dry passage for wildlife. The results of this project were compiled into a set of protocols, datasheets, and lessons learned by University of Vermont student Andy Wood as his master’s project, and are transferable to states across the northeast. Staff from The Nature Conservancy and Massachusetts Department of Fish and Wildlife will share resources, initial results, and pitfalls and lessons learned. Additional road segments will be profiled in Massachusetts and this talk will be of interest to those in other states who may want to work with partners and/or citizen scientists to gather similar data profiles. Presenters will discuss ways in which no one agency or organization could complete a data profile on their own, requiring an ongoing partnership among those interested in understanding wildlife movement across roads and reducing the impact of the transportation infrastructure network on habitat connectivity.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

The damage to Vermont’s surface transportation system caused by major and minor floods over time has illustrated the vulnerability of roads, bridges, and culverts to the effects of river flooding, erosion, and deposition. Flood recovery along the transportation system is a major annual expense for the State of Vermont. This project develops improved methods and tools to assess and mitigate flood risks to Vermont’s transportation system. The main goal of the project is to identify high risk road segments and crossing structures where both vulnerability and criticality are high to guide state and municipal infrastructure planning, hazard mitigation planning, and capital expenditure programming.A novel vulnerability scoring system was created and linked to different levels of transportation infrastructure damage (i.e., partial closure, full closure, partial failure, and complete failure). The vulnerability methods rely on river and road corridor data and were found to be accurate predictors of potential damage locations. Simulations were performed to identify the links in the transportation network where failure due to flooding would cause the most travel delays or trip reductions. The criticality scoring rated the consequence of a link failure, the importance of a link to access critical facilities such as a hospital, and how important the road link is for local detour use.The vulnerability and criticality scores were combined to develop an asset risk score. High risk locations are vulnerable to damages and important for efficient travel, and thus are locations where greater flood mitigation investment is warranted. Mitigation recommendations were established based on the characteristics that contribute to vulnerability and criticality for each location in the pilot watersheds. Mitigation options included vegetative practices in low risk locations and hard armor stabilization practices in high risk locations. Floodplain reconnection and river corridor conservation were also considered to reduce vulnerability to transportation infrastructure.A web application has been developed to display the screening results. The App allows a high-level view for planning at the watershed or sub-watershed levels, as well as the ability to zoom in to specific sites. Underlying vulnerability and criticality data can be unpacked to provide local information to begin mitigation planning at transportation assets and river reaches. The Vermont Transportation Resilience Planning Tool (TRPT) is available to support planning and design to improve flood resiliency of the Vermont transportation network.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

In 2014, the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration (DER), a division of the Department of Fish and Game, formalized its Stream Continuity Program. This unique agency program was designed to help municipal road managers build capacity to replace undersized, perched, and degraded road-stream crossings (e.g., culverts and bridges) with new structures that meet the Massachusetts Stream Crossing Standards. Incorporating the Standards into crossing design improves river function and access for fish and wildlife, and reduces hazards to public safety, such as flooding, culvert failure, and road washout. The majority of the 30,000 road-stream crossings in Massachusetts are owned and maintained by municipalities, and despite growing damage and failure of these crossings due to increasing frequency and intensity of storms, few communities have successfully replaced existing crossings with better designed structures that meet the Standards. Building on the results of a state-wide municipal needs assessment, the Stream Continuity Program developed four program components meeting DER’s mission, municipal goals, and joint efforts toward climate resiliency. These include (a) direct technical assistance to municipal Public Works/Highway Directors seeking help for road-stream crossing replacement projects, (b) establishment of DER supported case-study culvert replacement training sites distributed throughout MA to enhance accessibility of training opportunities for capacity limited towns and to encourage town-to-town mentoring for culvert replacements, (c) establishment of an annual Culvert Replacement Municipal Assistance Grant Program, and (d) the development of technical tools and approaches to help road managers implement culvert replacement projects. The justification and progression of program components will be discussed, as well as lessons-learned and mechanisms for evaluation.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

Massachusetts municipalities own and manage a majority of the 30,000 road-stream crossings in Massachusetts. Many of these structures are reaching the end of their serviceable lifespan and 40-60% of these crossings create barriers to aquatic passage. Investments in infrastructure are needed and local funding is unable to meet the demand and needs of communities across the Commonwealth. Upgrading crossings to new design standards to meet fish passage and flood resiliency design criteria carry higher upfront costs, yet these crossings are demonstrating cost-effectiveness through reduced maintenance and replacement costs over time. The Division of Ecological Restoration’s Culvert Replacement Municipal Assistance Program provides seed money communities need to advance culvert replacement projects that meet the Massachusetts Stream Crossing Standards. The grant program specifically is targeted to the municipal road managers responsible for managing and maintaining culvert infrastructure within their towns. This lightning talk will share the key elements of the grant program, highlighted recently funded projects, and lessons learned from this newly developed statewide grant program.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

MaineDOT/USFWS/ FHWA and ACOE programmatically consulted under Section 7 of the Endangered Species act on impacts to Atlantic salmon from MaineDOT and Maine Turnpike transportation projects. In January of 2017 USFWS issued a Biological opinion for these stream crossing effects on Atlantic salmon. The center piece of the programmatic documents is a commitment to use Habitat Connectivity Design (HCD) standards in designing stream crossings. This involves a 1. 2 bankfull width and installation of stable stream bed based on pebble counts done on a reference reach. To date, 4 projects have been done using these concepts with more to be constructed in 2018. This talk will take a preliminary look at how the culverts and substrates are working in terms of the design intent.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

The Nature Conservancy and the NH Department of Environmental Services Coastal Program completed the development of NH’s Tidal Crossing Assessment Protocol in 2017, which is a tool created for coastal resource managers to evaluate road-stream crossing structures that convey tidal flows. A first of its kind as a modern-day tool that combines field and remotely sensed data and analysis, the protocol is already being used regionally and has the potential for much broader application. Its development is quite timely as tidal crossing infrastructure is at the front lines of coastal challenges associated with climate change. The intent of the protocol is to identify and prioritize tidal crossings that warrant replacement for both people and nature—that is, to improve fish passage, allow for marsh migration, and enhance climate-ready infrastructure and community safety, among other management objectives. The presentation will provide an overview of the protocol, lessons learned through its implementation, support tools developed (e.g. mobile data collection platform, reporting tools), and strategies to move priority sites from the conservation planning phase toward construction. The protocol was introduced at the NETWC in 2016 while it was still under development; we are pleased to roll-out the completed and implemented protocol for NH’s tidal crossings for the 2018 conference.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

Recently, Commonwealth of Massachusetts transportation personnel and elected officials have acknowledged the need to address the lack of funding available to municipalities to preserve, rehabilitate and replace local bridges. Therefore in 2017 the state legislature and Governor approved and funded the Municipal Small Bridge Program, a new program that provides financial support to cities and towns for small bridge replacement, preservation and rehabilitation projects. This 5 year program assists cities and towns to replace or preserve small bridges with spans between 10' and 20' that are not eligible for federal aid under existing programs. The program entails an application process, and selected municipalities may qualify for up to $500,000 per year.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

Roads have documented negative and positive effects on bats. Ecological traits mediate the effects of roads on bats, with gleaning foragers being the most negatively affected. Bat abundance and diversity have been documented to be lower near roads, with the effect extending at least 1.6 km from the road. Roads negatively affect bats through direct mortality, movement barriers, and various pollutants (e.g. light, noise), though effect is mediated by age, sex, reproductive status, and ecology. Road effects on Myotis septentrionalis (MYSE) have never been directly tested but they are ecologically similar (gleaning foragers) to bats that are negatively affected.Our objective was to characterize the use of habitat adjacent to highways by MYSE in New England. Detection–non-detection locality data were collated from state transportation agencies, non-profit researchers, and state and federal biologists. We used hierarchical Bayesian occupancy models to assess the effect of different road characteristics (e.g. number of lanes, traffic volume, speed limit) and other standard habitat variables (e.g. land cover, percent tree cover, distance to water) on MYSE presence. Road density was strongly related to MYSE presence. Increasing road density decreased the probability of presence of MYSE. No other road characteristics significantly affected MYSE presence, though this may be caused an interaction between study size and gaps within the dataset. MYSE are a federally endangered species whose populations have been drastically reduced by white-nose syndrome. Understanding compounding threats, like road presence, is a critical step in developing an effective conservation plan for MYSE. Thus, we call for more direct research with experimental approaches on the effects of roads on MYSE.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

Massachusetts currently has two sources of point-specific animal-vehicle mortality data which can be used to identify locations where roadway improvement projects may also be designed to improve landscape connectivity for wildlife. Initiated in 2010, the Linking Landscapes for Massachusetts Wildlife (LLMW) project collects citizen scientist’s observations of wildlife road mortality to identify locations with high mortality rates. The LLMW website’s data entry interface can be accessed by anyone, but data is collected in an opportunistic, non-systematic manner. MassDOT’s Crash Portal provides access to animal-vehicle crash data collected by law enforcement at the scene of vehicular crashes, and these data are collected in a relatively systematic manner. Nearly 90% of the Crash Portal records of animal-vehicle collisions represent collisions with deer, in contrast to the LLMW dataset which contains a great variety of species and is dominated by smaller wildlife species including opossum, squirrels, chipmunks (28% of records), and birds (10% of records). The locations of wildlife mortality from these two data sources will be compared and locations identified as hotspots by either data set will be flagged. For this comparison, the Crash Portal data will be compared to all LLMW records and then to a subset of LLMW records representing only medium- to large-sized mammals.

The overlap in hotspots identified by these two data sources is expected to be relatively low. Deer may not be a good proxy for other species of wildlife as they do not necessarily have the same habitat preferences, and may use the landscape, including roadway crossings, differently. Additionally, the reporting systems for these two data sets differ substantially, and the nonsystematic nature of the data submitted to the LLMW may create “hot spots” due to reporting bias. Never-the-less, the hotspots identified by both data sets provide information that should be valuable for designing roadway projects that can improve habitat connectivity. Locations identified as mortality hotspots by both data sets may be of particular interest. Additionally, understanding the extent to which deer-dominated data is or is not representative of other species is of interest as crash data is collected by all states, but LLMW-style data collection efforts are not ubiquitous.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

Located in the heart of historic downtown Exeter, New Hampshire, the Great Dam was a 136-feet-long by 16-feet-high reinforced concrete run-of-river dam consisting of a spillway, a fish ladder including a small lower dam structure, a low-level outlet, and a penstock. The NHDES identified a number of safety problems with the Great Dam, most notably its inability to withstand a 50-year storm event with adequate freeboard. Additionally, the fish ladder, which was installed in the late 1960s to help restore upstream passage for diadromous fish, proved inefficient at allowing upstream travel. After many years of study and evaluation of risks and alternatives, the Town of Exeter chose to pursue removal of the dam as the best way to eliminate such issues. Following a design and permitting phase, as well as the award of several federal grants to help defray the costs to the local community, the Great Dam was removed from the Exeter River in the summer 2016. The removal process also entailed reshaping the river channel at the dam site to optimize conditions for upstream passage of diadromous fish. Ultimately, the dam removal restored 21 miles of the Exeter River and its tributaries to a free-flowing condition, eliminated a barrier to migrating fish, increased the community’s resiliency by reducing the severity of future floods, and improved overall water quality for the Town and surrounding Exeter River area.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

All of New Jersey's terrestrial wildlife species of greatest conservation need are negatively impacted by the habitat loss and fragmentation that have occurred in the state over the past several decades, and roads are a significant factor impinging on the connectivity of habitats and wildlife populations. To address these threats, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife has developed a set of tools and guidance called Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ). While the tools continue to be improved and refined, the Division has moved forward with efforts to install passage systems at road-wildlife conflict hotspots that align with our CHANJ mapping. We will provide an overview of three such projects, each where a road bisects high-quality habitat on state-owned lands. The three projects differ in their target (herptile) species, region of the state, road ownership, and funding mechanism for implementation. The Assunpink underpass project is on a state-owned Wildlife Management Area roadway with a federally listed turtle species target and a great deal of in-house control. Waterloo is a county-owned roadway with a significant seasonal amphibian migration across a concentrated stretch of road. And Atlantic City Expressway is a privately-owned highway where the main species of concern, the northern pine snake, ranges over a broad habitat area and requires a larger-scale passage system approach.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

Freshwater mussels, among the most imperiled aquatic species in the United States and Canada, are affected by habitat loss and degradation from pollution, dams, and stream alterations. Three of Maine’s ten species of freshwater mussel - Brook Floater (Alasmidonta varicosa), Tidewater Mucket (Leptodea ochracea) and Yellow Lampmussel (Lampsilis cariosa) - are listed as Threatened under the Maine Endangered Species Act. Annually, MaineDOT may screen as many as 20 bridge replacements and rehabilitations occurring on waterbodies containing populations of the three targeted mussel species or in the bordering riparian zone. MaineDOT and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (MDIFW) partnered to develop a protocol that ensures threatened mussels are protected from harm during transportation projects. Proposed projects are first screened by MaineDOT in ArcGIS against a statewide shapefile compiled and maintained by MDIFW of known and potential rare mussel occurrences. Projects with in-stream impacts to mussel habitat are, after consultation with MDIFW, assigned to tiers based on documented occurrences of mussels in that waterbody and, if present, the species and probable densities. These tiers determine the level of MaineDOT response which always includes implementing Best Management Practices (BMPs) and may include a pre-project survey and relocation. Specific guidelines were also established for survey and relocation timing, area, effort, methods, documentation, and personnel training. This protocol streamlines and standardizes the consultation process between the two state agencies and grows confidence that informed actions are implemented. It also encourages MaineDOT biologists to assume a larger hands-on role in mussel surveys and relocations.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

In the wake of Hurricane Irene, flooding damages to private and public infrastructure and roadways from undersized or failing culverts caused devastating consequences with millions of dollars in damages. With potential future effects of climate change, including increased heavy precipitation events combined with state budgetary constraints, resiliency planning with reconnaissance surveys to identify undersized and structurally compromised culverts are a very important tool for state transportation agencies. In addition to engineering failures and financial consequences, undersized and perched culverts often result in increased downstream erosion and sedimentation and barriers to aquatic organism passage. There are over 4,000 culverts greater than 6 feet long in the mountainous state of Vermont with thousands of more shorter culverts spread throughout the 9,614 square miles of the state. In spring 2017, the Vermont Agency of Transportation and Stantec developed an office screening and field-based protocol to survey 200 culverts selected culverts over 6 feet long across the state to prioritize them for replacement based on their structural integrity, state and federal permitting constraints and aquatic habitat impacts. In the summer, Stantec field surveyed the 200 culverts for 23 structural, biological and fluvial geomorphic parameters collected in the field in only 8 weeks using GPS enabled iPads, which were used to locate, collect data efficiently and accurately, and geo-reference photos taken in the field. The iPads prevented manually entering over 35 office and field parameters used to easily and quickly filter and identify high priority culverts for replacement relative to budgetary and permitting constraints by VTrans in the fall of 2017. This presentation will include a summary of the methods, technology, lessons learned and preliminary results from the 2017 Hot 200 culvert inventory conducted by Vtrans and Stantec.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

The Maine Department of Transportation (MaineDOT), in partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Federal Highway Administration, Army Corps of Engineers, and Maine Turnpike Authority developed a programmatic agreement (Maine Atlantic Salmon Programmatic, or MAP) that became effective in January 2017. The MAP streamlines the Section 7 consultation process for a broad range of transportation infrastructure activities that intersect federally endangered Atlantic salmon and its critical habitat. In-water work activities related to transportation projects covered by the MAP include stream crossing structure replacements, such as large culverts and bridges. All HUC-10 watersheds within the Gulf of Maine Atlantic salmon Distinct Population Segment are prioritized (Tier 1, 2 and 3) for restoration recovery based on their conservation value for Atlantic salmon and mitigation priority. Tier 1 areas are the highest priority recovery watersheds. To comply with the MAP, stream crossing replacement projects in Tier 1 priority areas must follow specific fish passage design criteria that provide stream habitat connectivity. Habitat connectivity design (HCD) requires appropriate structure sizing (meeting 1.2 bankfull width of the natural stream), closely matching the natural streambed profile and sediment characteristics, and constructing bank lines that tie into the natural streambanks of the existing river or stream. Construction of stable bank lines within replacement structures that link to natural stream banks and have a walkable surface provides functional passage for many wildlife species. MaineDOT is committed to designing stream crossing replacement projects in Tier 1 priority areas that restore and maintain habitat connectivity consistent with USFWS recovery goals. MaineDOT’s commitment through MAP to specific design standards for crossing structures that reconnect aquatic systems for endangered salmon has high potential to provide habitat connectivity for semi-aquatic and terrestrial wildlife species vulnerable to road mortality. Approximately 21 bridge projects will be replaced using stream habitat connectivity design criteria during the MaineDOT’s current 2018-2020 workplan. HCD projects intersecting high-value habitat connections identified by Maine Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (e.g., Beginning with Habitat connector road segments and priority road segments) provides safe means of passage for rare species, such as Blanding’s and spotted turtles, and more common terrestrial species, such as mink and bobcat. MaineDOT installed bank lines to accommodate turtles in a 20-foot span concrete box culvert in Lyman, Maine (Bartlett Bridge Road) in 2017. Two additional structures with turtle passage will be built in the towns of Sidney and Standish in 2018-2019. Regular monitoring of bank lines inside HCD structures, as well as post-project roadkill surveys will be necessary to assess the long-term value and effectiveness of these structures for wildlife passage. Bank designs will be adapted as needed based on monitoring of stability and function.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

The New York State Department of Transportation and The Nature Conservancy are piloting the state’s first-ever “critter shelf” for wildlife. Installed last fall inside a large culvert under State Route 12 in the Black River Valley, the steel mesh walkway provides a two-foot wide, 138-foot long, dry platform for wildlife to cross through the culvert instead of over the busy road. It is attached to one side of the corrugated steel culvert with brackets and cables. As part of the Staying Connected Initiative, scientists identified the 650,000- acre Black River Valley—a patchwork of forests, farms, businesses and residential communities—as an important linkage for wildlife to move between the core forests of the Adirondacks and the Tug Hill. The site was further identified by wildlife tracking. It’s surrounded by forest cover on both sides, including one side protected by a conservation easement, making it a good, strategic choice. The Nature Conservancy is using trail cameras to monitor activity at the site both before and after installation. The cameras will stay in place for at least an additional year to help assess the effectiveness of the new walkway. The design, trademarked and patented as CritterCrossing, was developed and tested in Montana by transportation experts, a wildlife biologist, and a steel manufacturer.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

The Northeastern USA supports five species of Emydine turtle, more than any other region globally. Regional population declines are evident, and roads and road traffic are implicated as one cause of decline. The Northeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies has initiated a Regional Conservation Need project that includes a component on current and best practices for avoiding and mitigating negative impacts of roads on turtles. This project is led by Tom Langen (Clarkson University), and will develop a standardized approach to identifying and documenting turtle road mortality hotspots, create a database of regional roadway mitigation projects for turtles to facilitate best future design practices, recommend Best Practices for common mitigation measures, provide standardized protocols for mitigation project monitoring, and conduct a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of mitigation actions. We are soliciting participants at NETWC for assistance in making contacts and locating information on ongoing practices and implemented mitigation measures that can inform this project.
LOCATION: Campus Center Auditorium

The Northeastern United States is a mosaic of communities, working lands, open spaces, infrastructure, and ecosystems -- thousands of species of fish and wildlife and millions of people have found their niche in this region.But habitat fragmentation, development, and climate change are threatening the landscape that defines us, the resources we depend upon, and the wild things and places we care about. To sustain a functioning network of natural resources within this living landscape, we need to work together. In response to these threats, a team of partners from 13 states, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, nongovernmental organizations, and universities, worked for more than a year to develop a regional landscape conservation design to provide the foundation for unified conservation action from Maine to Virginia.The Nature’s Network conservation design depicts an interconnected network of lands and waters that, if protected, will support a diversity of fish, wildlife, and natural resources that the people of the Northeast region depend upon. Using innovative modeling approaches developed by partners at the leading edge of conservation science, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst Designing Sustainable Landscapes project and The Nature Conservancy, Nature’s Network identifies:-- Habitat needs for more than 3,000 species of animals and plants, including those identified as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) in Wildlife Action Plans revised by states in 2015, and 30 species representing hundreds more with similar sensitivities, life cycles, and habitat requirements.-- Important areas for the conservation of several hundred common and rare aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem types, and habitat connections needed for species to move across the landscape.-- Connected networks of intact and diverse terrestrial, wetland, and coastal systems that provide habitat for wildlife and benefits for people, such as access to intact forests and sources of clean water.-- Connected networks of intact and diverse rivers and river systems that provide habitat for resident and anadromous fish — as well as other organisms — and benefits to people, such as recreation and clean water.During a hands on workshop led by members of the Nature’s Network team, participants will learn about the vision and history behind the project, see what went into the different science components of the conservation design, and explore potential applications for the suite of datasets and decision-support tools to support ecological and community resilience. Participants will leave the workshop with an ability to use new spatial tools and products to identify conservation opportunities and strategic actions to protect a connected landscape based on partners’ consensus on the places we cannot afford to lose.
LOCATION: ROOM 165-69

Over the past decade, numerous severe storms have impacted culverts, bridges and other infrastructure across the New England transportation network. Many of the stream crossing and roadway embankment failures that occurred may have been avoided if consideration had been given towards how river and stream processes affect and interact with transportation infrastructure. Fluvial geomorphology, a science devoted to understanding river and landform processes, is a tool that can be used to develop more resilient stream crossing and roadway designs, while also restoring habitat, and river and floodplain processes. However, fluvial geomorphology is underutilized, due in part to a lack of understanding of its benefits, but also due to a lack of technical expertise across the transportation sector. To bridge that gap between science and application, MassDOT has embarked on a project to develop a Rivers and Roads training program, to improve design and asset management and ultimately create a more resilient transportation network. The training itself is comprised of three tiers of training: An online introduction to fluvial geomorphology (Tier 1); Classroom and field training about river and road conflicts, and how to minimize risks to transportation infrastructure (Tier 2); and An advanced training on design principals (Tier 3). The trainings will be rolled out to MassDOT across the Commonwealth starting in 2018, with trainings to local government and private stakeholders through the Baystate Roads program later in the year. This half-day workshop (4 hours) will be a condensed version of the MassDOT Tier 1 & 2 River and Road training courses, and will include: overview of the MassDOT Rivers & Roads Training Program; introduction to river science and the field of fluvial geomorphology; field assessment methods; design considerations; overview of the MassDOT Stream Crossing Handbook; case studies with lessons learned; and interactive activities such as flume table demonstration.The workshop will be conducted by a panel of professionals with expertise and hands-on experience in transportation-related environmental design and permitting, applied fluvial geomorphology, engineering design of bridges and culverts for habitat continuity, wildlife and fisheries resource management, water resources research, and environmental outreach and education.
LOCATION: ROOM 162-75

This interactive workshop offers participants the opportunity to provide feedback on a region-wide plan for implementing ecological connectivity from Labrador to Connecticut and interact with members of the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers Working Group that is tasked with making it happen.In the summer of 2016, the New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers signed Resolution 40-3 agreeing that ecological connectivity was an important part of climate change adaptation and convened a working group to create an implementation plan on how to advance this work. Central to the resolution is that “maintaining and restoring ecological connectivity is an important strategy for boosting the resilience of the region's native ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as its economy and human communities. Connected habitats provide the natural pathways necessary for fish, wildlife, and plants to move to meet their life needs and to find suitable habitat as climate conditions change.” In the summer of 2018, the Working Group presented its Implementation Plan to the Governors & Premiers and are now working to implement the actions it describes. They vary by state or province but include diverse tasks from developing better models of where wildlife cross roads to better interaction between state agencies and departments, each jurisdiction has spelled out how it intends to advance this work. In this interactive workshop, members of the Working Group seek feedback from participants in the transportation-related aspects of the Implementation Plan. This is an important opportunity for feedback from the road ecology community on the action items spelled out for each jurisdiction in this landscape scale vision of connected habitats and climate resilience.
LOCATION: ROOM 163C

POSTERS

Posters will be on display in the 1st Floor Concourse between Tuesday, Setember 11 at 9:30 AM and Wednesday, September 12 at 12:00 PM.

The focus of this presentation is to instruct current stakeholders regarding wildlife mitigation efforts to address road user behavior efforts when implementing wildlife mitigation efforts to reduce wildlife crashes. Highways are a major source of impacts affecting terrestrial wildlife and aquatic organisms on public and private lands. In addition, wildlife crashes contribute to serious injuries and fatal crashes on our roadways. Current wildlife mitigation efforts using signage, culverts, overpasses, underpasses and fencing are only addressing half of the problem. These efforts are not addressing the driver. Efforts to increase driver awareness in conjunction with wildlife mitigation efforts may have overall greater impacts on reducing wildlife crashes than simply implementing these mitigation efforts alone. As with other road safety behavioral campaigns, when awareness, education and enforcement are not a component of the program, the effectiveness of the program is diminished. Educating drivers regarding why these mitigation efforts are conducted and how to react as a driver when faced with wildlife in the roadway will not only cut down on the impact we have on wildlife, but will also help reduce human serious injury and fatal crashes. Wildlife crashes are a common problem across the US. Different species have varying behaviors regarding how they react to roadways and traffic. Some animals avoid roadways, some are attracted to the roadways for the heat roadways retain, some will patiently wait for traffic to clear, while others will simply dart out into the roadway. These behaviors are proven to be specific to a species. Educating the public about these behaviors and how to avoid crashes with wildlife can have a significant impact on reducing wildlife crashes. In addition, identifying current road user perceptions, beliefs and behaviors regarding wildlife crashes can inform outreach and educational efforts to be more effective in this regard. Coupling these efforts with mitigation efforts such as implementing or maintaining overpasses, underpasses, culverts and fencing can prove to enhance efforts to reduce serious injury and fatal crashes as a result of these wildlife interactions. It has been documented that people often pull over to the side of the road when they see a wildlife crossing sign to witness that particular wildlife. This behavior is dangerous especially in high traffic areas. Raising community awareness especially in tourist areas such as National Parks and the surrounding roadways will make our roads safer for these communities and the wildlife who have made these areas their home. Behavioral evaluations of road safety behavior are critical to informing countermeasures used to save lives on our roadways. Traffic safety initiatives including research surveys and evaluations to measure the incidence of wildlife roadway interactions are necessary to identify strategies to reduce these crashes. Continued awareness campaigns to promote education describing the risk associated with these behaviors are equally important in these efforts. Therefore, it is necessary that statistically valid research and assessment programs continue to measure these risks.

Beaver dammed road culverts are a significant problem, damaging road infrastructure, creating safety hazards for the motoring public, creating hazards for road crews, and diverting limited road maintenance resources. As beaver populations have recovered their effect on our northeastern transportation system is profound.Typically nuisance beavers are trapped and killed and road crews are left to clear the damming obstructions. This can become a heavy burden on a department’s manpower, machinery and budget, especially if the beaver damming or clearing efforts caused infrastructure damage.Fortunately, over the past 20 years better methods to control beavers have been developed and proven effective. Innovative culvert protection technologies by Beaver Solutions LLC, Beaver Deceivers International, and others have cost-effectively resolved conflicts with beavers at over 1,ooo road culverts in New England. It is rare that a road culvert cannot be protected from beaver damming. As a result, many State and Municipal Highway Departments across the northeast are utilizing these innovative devices to save enormous amounts of precious labor and money, protect infrastructure from damage, and improve road and worker safety. See the video testimonials at: https://www.beaverinstitute.org/about/testimonials/ Most road culvert protective devices cost $1,000 - $1,600 installed for all materials and labor. They last for 10 or more years with only one hour of maintenance per year. Cost analysis studies have shown that typically $7 or more is saved for every $1 spent. For more detailed information see flow devices at: https://www.beaverinstitute.org/research/library/. In order to assist Highway Departments across the country implement these cost effective beaver management tools, the Beaver Institute, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, recently launched a “Safe Roads Initiative” program. The Beaver Institute™ can refer your Highway Department to an experienced beaver control expert in your area, or, if your department is willing to do this work, the Beaver Institute can train your staff to build and install these effective beaver control devices. The Beaver Institute also has started a grant program to help defray your flow device installation cost!Learning to better manage beavers can resolve many road maintenance and safety problems, reduce labor, improve worker safety, save limited budget resources, and as an important bonus, also create a healthier environment for us all. The Beaver Institute’s “Safe Roads Initiative” is ready to assist you. Go to https://www.beaverinstitute.org/our-new-safe-roads-initiative/ for more information.

Undersized, poorly designed, and aging road-stream crossings pose a challenge for aquatic organisms trying to move up and down stream as well as for state, municipal, and private entities responsible for road maintenance and public safety. Replacing these crossings with ones that allow for fish and wildlife to pass safely through while also improving infrastructure and public safety is a laudable goal, but one which demands financial and technical resources. Recent surveys in Maine have found that roughly 40% of crossing structures are barriers to fish passage, and an additional 40-50% are barriers at some times of the year, and for some fish species. Across Maine, where the last remaining populations of wild Atlantic Salmon still persist, a variety of partners are working together to address the issue.In this presentation, Maine Audubon will provide an overview of the path taken to address this vexing issue in Maine. Using the most complete statewide data on crossing structures available to any state, partners in Maine can prioritize project work based on physical, geographic, and biological information. With a partner-supported Stream Smart outreach program, road professionals as well and the general public can be educated on the problem and what solutions are available. Direct contacts can be made between project proponents and Stream Smart partners with expertise and other resources. Through creativity, advocacy, and again, strong partnerships, funding opportunities have been created to help support the costs of crossing structure replacement where aquatic organisms and public safety will benefit the most. Technical expertise also comes out of these partnerships—from grant-writing to preliminary design and project management, partners find ways to get the work done. We will cover the funding mechanisms created at various levels to support culvert replacements, how technical information is made available, and the methods to implementation. With this deep partnership, a great deal has been accomplished in a short amount of time. “Before-and-after” photos will be presented with an overview of what has been accomplished thus far, as well as plans for the future.Working with a partnership of federal, state, and local governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations and non-profits, as well as representatives of the forestry industry and consulting/engineering firms, Maine is beginning to see success at a wider and wider scale in the arena of aquatic fish and wildlife habitat connectivity. Many of these lessons may be transferrable to other states or provinces where there is a need, an interest, and the will to achieve.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges Project traverses Manahawkin Bay, part of Barnegat Bay, in Stafford Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. The Project involved the construction of a new structure parallel to the existing Manahawkin Bay Bridge, rehabilitation of the existing Manahawkin Bay Bridge, and the rehabilitation of three other bridges over Hilliards Thorofare, East Thorofare, and West Thorofare. Permit conditions for the Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges Project require mitigation to compensate for impacts to Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV). Impacts to SAV include permanent loss of SAV habitat, permanent loss to vegetated SAV beds and temporary impacts associated with construction activities. To address the permit requirements, NJDOT developed and implemented a mitigation plan utilizing an adaptive management strategy. The purpose of the SAV Adaptive Management Plan was to mitigate for permanent impacts attributed to the Project while improving the overall success of SAV mitigation efforts. The SAV Adaptive Management Plan (AMP) consists of an iterative mitigation method whereby planting is performed over a period of time, the success of planting efforts are monitored and evaluated annually, and adjustments are made to planting methods and specifications based on the results of previous years results. The intent is to allow maximum flexibility during planting to adjust means and methods in response to field conditions in order to improve success rates over time, thereby satisfying permit conditions over a specified period and reducing the risk of having to redo mitigation efforts due to low success rates. The Adaptive Management Plan requires alternate contracting when compared to more traditional compensatory mitigation methods. There are no design plans or contract specifications developed that are applicable to the duration of the program. Adjustments to plans and specifications are made annually in response to previous results and agency/stakeholder input. Additionally, methods to be employed during the summer/fall planting efforts are based on the evaluation of monitoring results performed in the previous spring/summer of each year allowing very limited time between developing plans and specifications and implementation during any given year. This presentation will provide an introduction and overview of the NJDOT's SAV mitigation efforts including site selection, restoration techniques and monitoring programs.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Route 72 Manahawkin Bay Bridges Project traverses the Manahawkin Bay, part of Barnegat Bay, in Stafford Township, Ocean County, New Jersey. The Project involved the construction of a new structure parallel to the existing Manahawkin Bay Bridge, rehabilitation of the existing Manahawkin Bay Bridge, and the rehabilitation of three other bridges over Hilliards Thorofare, East Thorofare, and West Thorofare. As part of the project approvals, compensatory mitigation was required for impacts associated with the Route 72 Project. This presentation will focus on the Project’s mitigation efforts for coastal resources including inter-tidal sub-tidal shallows (ITSTS), coastal wetlands and riparian habitat through implementation of the Cedar Bonnet Island Habitat Restoration Project. To address the projects mitigation requirements, NJDOT collaborated with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to restore a former dredge material disposal facility, known as Cedar Bonnet Island (CBI), that is part of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. NJDOT benefited by having access to land within which the project impacts could be mitigated while reducing land acquisition cost and allowing for long-term stewardship of the site by the USFWS. The USFWS benefited by advancing a portion of its Comprehensive Management Plan to accommodate restoration of the site for wildlife habitat and passive recreational use. The project was completed in Spring 2018 and consists of 45 acres allowing for 18 acres of upland habitat restoration, 20 acres of creation/enhancement of ITSTS including coastal wetlands, and 7 acres of upland habitat enhancement. The objectives of the project included protecting and preserving existing high quality marsh, restoring lost intertidal functions, improving wildlife habitat value, and increasing tidal flushing to inhibit growth of phragmites.

According to ASCE 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, the average age of the 90,580 dams in the United States is 56 years; 15,500 or 17 percent are deemed high-hazard potential dams (2016), and 2,170 of those are deficient high-hazard potential dams requiring $45 billion to repair. According to American Rivers, 1,235 dams have been removed during the past 30 years, including a record 86 dams in 2017 across 21 states including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Vermont, with Pennsylvania ranking first (16), followed by California (10), and Massachusetts (9). One of the most cost-effective ways to deal with outdated, expensive to maintain, and/or unsafe dams is to remove them. When a dam is removed, a river can flow naturally while reducing the threat of catastrophic flooding from dam breach. Dam removals decommission the aging infrastructure while often restoring fish passage, instream and riparian habitat connectivity, and enhancing riverine functions such as sediment and organic matter transport, enhancing the area ecosystem. When dams are removed and river flows are restored, there is the potential for impacts to transportation infrastructure, upstream and downstream of the former dam and its associated impoundment. These may include exposing previously inundated infrastructure to river and storm scour; erosion of impoundment banks; head-cutting of impounded sediments and substrate; and sediment releases to and through downstream infrastructure. A number of critical elements have been included in dam removal project designs to mitigate these impacts. These include:

Constructing grade control riffles within the new channel.

Natural rock scour countermeasures to enhance bridge abutment stability.

Scour mitigation improvements or other measures to protect upstream infrastructure river flows where there had previously been standing water.

Rock ramp buttresses for fish passage, head pond maintenance and dam stabilization.

Water intake modifications.

Slope stabilization.

Restoration plantings and seedings We will present four dam removal case studies including final design specifications related to culverts and bridges, and in-construction photos showing project progession.

The Environmental Office of Maine Department of transportation serves as the liaison between the state natural resource agencies and project development programs at MaineDOT. Fish passage solutions and techniques are well documented across the country, but sometimes specific site conditions and fish species dictate that monitoring of their performance be completed. MaineDOT has utilized a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag monitoring to test fish passage performance at replacement structures and structure rehabilitations. As part of the monitoring protocol, a combination of flow monitors and level loggers to analyze stream dynamics (depth, temperature, pressure) to determine the effects of those parameters on successful fish passage. This monitoring is completed with MaineDOT staff. MaineDOT also retrofitted a retired solar sign board to power PIT studies in an attempt to make set up of the monitoring equipment more efficient and cost effective.

Bridge crossings over rivers and floodplain areas can cause substantial environmental impacts and result in regulatory and resource challenges. In addition to providing flood storage and attenuation, riverine floodplain systems are recognized as providing valuable ecological functions, and frequently also include areas of archaeological or cultural resource sensitivity. This is particularly true in suburban areas where land development can increase the importance of these systems from an ecological and social perspective. Given this, projects proposed in floodplains can result in a lengthy permit review and approval process. To avoid lengthy permit reviews and project delays, creative strategies need to be considered to avoid and minimize impacts. The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) is proposing to replace an existing bridge over the Farmington River and associated floodplains on Old Farms Road in Avon, Connecticut. The bridge replacement is proposed to occur adjacent to the existing structure, and will address structural deficiencies and improve public safety. Upon completion of construction of the new bridge and approach fills, the existing bridge structure will be removed and an the intersection located to the east of the bridge will be reconfigured. As part of the planning for the project, several environmental challenges were identified, including potential impacts on several rare plants and areas of archaeological sensitivity within the Farmington River floodplain. An Early Woodland archaeological site (2700-2000BP) was identified on the west side of the Bridge. Artifacts, including Native pottery, were recovered, and the nature of soil deposition suggests the potential for more deeply buried archaeological resources to be present. In addition, agency consultation efforts identified potential concerns related to the presence of eastern pondmussel (Ligumia nasuta) and Eastern pearlshell (Margaritifera margaritifera), both Special Concern species in Connecticut, within the River in proximity to the proposed bridge crossing. These mussels will be relocated in July of 2018.The poster will describe the details of the environmental challenges encountered during planning and design, as well as strategies to mitigate impacts. An emphasis is on efforts developed to protect the long term viability of existing populations of several rare plant species (occupying the same footprint as the archaeological site). Specifically, three species of plants were identified within the general project area:

Davis’ sedge (Carex davisii): listed as State-Threatened;

Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum): State Species of Special Concern; and

Wiegand’s wild rye (Elymus wiegandii): also State Species of Special Concern.

During field surveys, two of the species, Davis’ sedge and Virginia waterleaf, were identified within the proposed project footprint. Interestingly, the rare species were found to be growing amongst a number of dense pockets of invasive plants within the proposed project footprint. Because of the anticipated impacts on these species an incidental take report was prepared to demonstrate compliance with State Endangered Species Act regulations. As a part of the mitigation proposed in the incidental take report, a transplanting plan was developed. This poster will present the results of the permanent preservation of 15.2 acres of forested floodplain habitat, invasive species control, and long-term monitoring.

Expanding road networks are detrimental to the populations of many reptile and amphibian species. The fragmenting of the landscape creates barriers, separating the populations of native organisms from the necessary resources. Wildlife crossing structures can be beneficial in aiding the movement of amphibians and reptiles across previously installed wildlife crossing culvert in Bedminster, New Jersey. The wildlife crossing culverts are located underneath River Road, which forms a barrier between the woods on one side of the road and the ponds on the other side. We used a combination of wildlife cameras and pitfall traps to determine the usage and success of the wildlife crossing culvert during a peak migration period of amphibians and reptiles. From March 31, 2017 through June 13, 2017, pitfall traps and wildlife cameras were monitored daily to determine the successful usage of the wildlife crossing culvert during migrations from the woods to the breeding ponds, and then returning from the breeding ponds to the woods. During this time period a total of 102 animals were found utilizing the wildlife crossing culvert. The cameras and pitfall traps revealed that the wildlife crossing culverts were most commonly used by amphibians, reptiles and small mammals when migrating to or from the woods and ponds. This study found the most effective method of monitoring usage of the wildlife crossing culvert was a combination of time-interval cameras and pitfall traps in a structure which is accompanied by angled fencing, directing the organisms into the culvert. Cameras were most effective in monitoring the larger amphibians and larger mammals, while pitfall traps were more effective in monitoring smaller amphibians and mammals.

The Chignecto Isthmus is a priority linkage area between Nova Scotia and continental North America via New Brunswick. Habitat on the isthmus is fragmented by agriculture, urban development, and roads, thus forming barriers to wildlife movement with negative implications for viability and persistence. As a result, it is increasingly difficult for wildlife, especially wide-ranging species, to find sufficient un-impacted habitat through which to disperse. Roads pose a threat to wildlife because animals either attempt to cross (and are often injured or killed through collisions with vehicles) or they avoid the road altogether, thereby limiting their range, movement patterns, and population interactions. Endangered mainland Nova Scotia moose (Alces alces americana) experience collisions with vehicles in this region. When combined with road-avoidance behaviour, significant obstacles for access to habitat and mates arise, thereby increasing the vulnerability of the moose population. Similar effects apply to many other wildlife species.Our project builds upon a prior analysis of wildlife habitat connectivity by The Nature Conservancy of Canada, which identified a high-probability wildlife movement pathway for selected wide-ranging animals. This 3-7-km-wide corridor runs southeast-northwest across the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border and identifies pinch-points where bottleneck effects on movement are likely to occur; where these pinch-points intersect with roads, there results a heightened barrier or avoidance effect for wildlife. We investigated wildlife-road interactions, on the ground, within the modelled corridor. Study sites in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are at intersections between the modelled corridor and major highways and secondary roads. At these sites, we gathered field data through (1) an inventory of the transportation infrastructure to identify existing and potential crossing structures and barriers, and (2) roadside surveys of vehicle-killed wildlife. Data were collected over 14 weeks (May through August ) via roadkill carcass searches conducted on-foot shortly after sunrise along the selected road segments. Data collected include GPS locations, photos, and species identifications. To complement these field data, we gathered available, existing data on wildlife-vehicle collisions and incident reports, and consulted with key government agency experts in the region.The preliminary findings are presented as maps detailing hotspots of animal presence and vehicle-related mortality at sites where roads cross the wildlife corridor, as compared to buffer zones exterior to the modeled corridors. Findings serve to verify modeled corridor results and provide quantitative and spatial data on road-wildlife interactions in the study area. These are used to identify optimal locations for and provide information relevant to designing mitigation techniques, such as fencing and wildlife under/overpasses. If implemented, such measures should serve to enhance human safety and habitat connectivity for the resiliency of the larger region, and support the maintenance and recovery of wide-ranging wildlife species at risk such as Nova Scotia mainland moose.

Road-kill and connectivity blockages caused by roads and road traffic can result in serious population declines of turtles. Agencies concerned with turtle conservation and the environmental management of roads are grappling with how to most effectively avoid or mitigate the negative effects of roads and road traffic on turtles. This poster provides a report on an ongoing project to evaluate how agencies in the northeastern US are addressing problems of turtles and roads, including road planning practices, site prioritization for mitigation, installation of barriers and passageways intended for turtles, and monitoring and maintenance of conservation measures. This project’s goal is to evaluate the current practices and alternatives, to provide science-based practical and effective Best Practices for reducing the negative impacts of turtles on roads in the region.

New Jersey has faced increasing habitat loss and fragmentation from steady urbanization and a dense network of roads for several decades that are compromising the connectivity of habitats and wildlife populations. In fact, urbanized land is now the dominant land cover type in the state. All of New Jersey’s terrestrial species of greatest conservation need are negatively impacted by habitat loss and fragmentation; effects that are likely to be exacerbated by a changing climate. Recognizing these threats, the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife formed a multi-partner, multi-disciplinary working group in October 2012 (representing over 100 individuals from over 40 different agencies across the state) to develop a statewide habitat connectivity plan, called Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ). Altogether, the CHANJ products are intended to allow land-use, conservation, and transportation planners to operate in a more collaborative way, leveraging New Jersey’s open space investment, increasing road safety, increasing permit efficiency, and ultimately improving the prospects for the long-term sustainability of New Jersey’s terrestrial wildlife.This year, CHANJ released a map package (available for download and as a web app) identifying core terrestrial wildlife habitats and linkages across the state, and a guidance document highlighting actions to restore and maintain those key areas for wildlife connectivity through strategic land preservation, habitat management, and road barrier mitigation. The CHANJ map package contains additional layers to assist with prioritization and decision-making, including Habitat Stepping Stones, Terrestrial Wildlife Habitat Preserved Lands, Road Segment Analyses, North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC) Road-Stream Crossing Assessments conducted in New Jersey, and a Road/Wildlife Mitigation Database. This “poster” presentation goes along with our podium presentation entitled “Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ)”, which explains the CHANJ project. This “poster” is a multi-media presentation that includes a computer with the CHANJ products on it, enabling attendees to interact with the CHANJ mapping and guidance document. We will also present a short CHANJ promotional video, along with additional visual displays describing other aspects of the CHANJ project.

It is currently unclear what factors contribute to moose-vehicle collisions in Maine. One hypothesis is that roadside salt pools attract moose to the roadways, leading to accidents. In 2017, we used remote cameras to examine moose activity at salt pools along Route 17 from Byron to Rangeley Plantation, a hotspot for moose-vehicle collisions in Maine. Our main objectives were to determine if remote cameras could be used to measure the activity patterns of moose and detect different individuals at these sites. Remote cameras captured over 11,371 photos over the 118-day pilot study, which began in late July and ended in mid-November 2017. During this time period, we identified an average of 6 moose at 12 sites and found that moose were most active between 9 PM and 2 AM. A majority of activity at salt pools occurred between August and mid-September. We recommend conducting a longer survey (spring-fall) at more locations throughout Maine and model the relationship between moose activity (a proxy for mortality risk) and a variety of factors associated with salt pools (e.g., size, shape, salinity) and roads.

Amphibians may be disproportionately affected by vehicle-caused road mortalities as compared to other wildlife because of their tendency to migrate en mass to breeding sites. Each year, many amphibians become victim to vehicular collision as they move from their hibernation sites across Waterloo Road in Byram Township, Sussex County, New Jersey to the vernal pool in which they reproduce. These annual road mortalities can have devastating effects on amphibian population sizes. In fact, as little as about 10% annual risk of road mortality in Spotted Salamanders can lead to extirpation of an entire population. To mitigate vehicle collisions with amphibians along Waterloo Road, the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF), in partnership with the New Jersey Endangered and Nongame Species Program (ENSP), is monitoring amphibian mortality to assess the success of wildlife road crossing structures planned for installation in 2019.

The purpose of this study is to document vehicle-caused human-wildlife conflict along Waterloo Road. This site hosts one of the largest cross-road amphibian breeding migrations within the state. Since 2002, CWF and ENSP have organized volunteers to assist amphibians across Waterloo Road during the busiest migration nights. This aid has proven effective in reducing road mortalities for at-risk amphibians such as the Special Concern Jefferson and spotted salamanders. However, daily road mortality counts from the first year of this study suggest high mortality still occurs for common species, like gray treefrogs and American toads, which migrate later in the breeding season. Road mortality surveys in conjunction with the volunteer Amphibian Rescue Night events could shed light on diel and seasonal movement patterns for local amphibian species.

Road mortality monitoring will continue so as to compare amphibian movements pre-crossing structure installation with those post-crossing structure installation. Furthermore, this effort compliments a statewide strategic planning initiative called Connecting Habitat Across New Jersey (CHANJ), which aims to make New Jersey’s landscape and roadways more permeable to wildlife movement. The results of this multi-year study will be used to assess the success of the proposed crossing structure at Waterloo Road to minimize road-related human-wildlife conflicts, and provide support for future wildlife road crossing structure projects throughout New Jersey.

2018 CONFERENCE: Session Details

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12

POSTERS

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