Funding will Support Important Environmental Focused Programs
(December 30, 2024) – The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration has received two US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration grants to enhance the pollinator habitat program and advance the wildlife crossings on and along state highways.
“We are excited to use this funding to advance our wildlife crossing and pollinator programs that play a critical role in supporting Maryland’s environmental goals,”, said State Highway Administrator Will Pines. “SHA looks forward to enhancing our state roadways with vibrant pollinator habitats and protecting Maryland’s wildlife through the investment in habitat connectivity."
The State Highway Administration was awarded nearly $388,000 through the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. This funding with enable the State Highway Administration to:
- Identify areas and locations along state highways where there are high volumes of wildlife- vehicular collisions;
- Establish design guidance to reduce wildlife-vehicular collisions on state routes; and
- Support enhanced public engagement and awareness of wildlife-vehicular collisions and the importance of habitat connectivity.
In developing the Wildlife Crossing Program, the United States Congress determined that there are more than 1,000,000 wildlife vehicle collisions annually in the United States. This poses a significant danger to safety and wildlife survival at a cost of more than $8 billion, and result in approximately tens of thousands of serious injuries and hundreds of fatalities on U.S. roadways.
The State Highway Administration was awarded $150,000 through the Roadside Pollinators Program that will:
• Adopt pollinator-friendly best management practice related to maintenance and operations;
• Develop and install roadside signs identifying established roadside meadows; and
• Create eight roadside or median pollinator meadows in five counties across the state with a goal of constructing nearly eight additional acres of crucial of pollinator habitat.
Maryland is home to more than 400 species of native bees, the most important group of pollinators in the state according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (Bees - Maryland's Wild Acres). Other valuable pollinators include beetles, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds. These animals support a healthy ecosystem and are essential for food production and food for other wildlife.