An effort to improve landscape connectivity in Massachusetts
In 2008, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program entered into an interagency agreement to streamline Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA) review through detailed early project coordination, reducing impacts though the evaluation of preliminary project designs and investigating creative cost-effective mitigation opportunities. The success of the partnership has led to the initiation of Linking Landscapes, a proactive wildlife and transportation collaborative between NHESP and MassDOT, together with UMass and the Vernal Pool Association, to cost-effectively evaluate state wildlife transportation issues, prioritize wildlife-related transportation mitigation opportunities, integrate wildlife upgrades into transportation infrastructure, improve highway right-of-ways for wildlife, and foster environmental stewardship partnerships with the public.
The Linking Landscapes Mission: To minimize the impact of the existing road network on rare and nongame wildlife, while improving highway safety, through cost-effective research, planning, and implementation of partnerships with citizens and communities of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Functional Components.
Linking Landscapes has four function components: (1) a statewide wildlife roadkill database, which will allow the public document wildlife roadkill observations through an online mapping interface; (2) a study that identifies turtle road-crossing “hotspots,” and prioritizes sites for transportation infrastructure improvements; (3) a database that allows the public to document the migration routes of amphibians across roadways.
We invite you to navigate through the Linking Landscapes website and its various projects. Please contact us to volunteer.
River otter, Hampshire County, Massachusetts
© Mike Jones
