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<H2><A title="Permanent Link to NRCS Helps Provide Pollinator Habitat along S.D. Highway" href="http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/06/20/nrcs-helps-provide-pollinator-habitat-along-s-d-highway/" rel=bookmark>NRCS Helps Provide Pollinator Habitat along S.D. Highway</A></H2>
<DIV class=authormetadata><!--New time date format-->Posted by <A title="Posts by Kent L Duerre, NRCS South Dakota" href="http://blogs.usda.gov/author/bweaver/">Kent L Duerre, NRCS South
Dakota</A>, on June 20, 2013 at 2:15 PM </DIV>
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<DIV style="WIDTH: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><IMG alt="The I-29 median planting seed mix included nine native wildflowers and three native prairie grasses. Photos by Thomas Tran, NRCS." src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/9093151937_2117e8062f.jpg" width=500 height=375>
<P class=wp-caption-text>The I-29 median planting seed mix included nine native
wildflowers and three native prairie grasses. Photos by Thomas Tran,
NRCS.</P></DIV>
<P>Employees of USDA’s <A href="http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/">Natural Resources
Conservation Service</A> (NRCS) in South Dakota have a knack for seeing
opportunities in the landscape. And recently, two of them initiated a highway
beautification and pollinator habitat project.</P>
<P>In 2010, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations Curt Elke and
District Conservationist Kent Duerre coordinated a wildflower planting project
along a stretch of Interstate 29 near the border with North Dakota. They started
out by requesting that the <A href="http://www.sddot.com/">South Dakota
Department of Transportation</A> allow them to establish an area of Interstate
29 median with native wildflowers and grasses, and offered their expertise as a
resource for ensuring the result mimicked the native prairie.<SPAN id=more-46189></SPAN></P>
<P>Working with the <A href="http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/plantsanimals/plants/centers/?cid=stelprdb1086088">NRCS
Bismarck Plant Materials Center</A>, Elke and Duerre chose a variety of
low-growing perennial and annual wildflowers for the best combination of showy
season-long color and highway safety. The mix included nine wildflowers and
three prairie grasses.</P>
<P>Because of the proximity of the project to <A href="http://www.swo-nsn.gov/">Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate</A> tribal lands, tribal
members saw value in the project and provided equipment and labor along the
way.</P>
<P>The soil was prepared before planting with the application of herbicide to
remove the existing vegetation. In the fall of 2010, the seed mix was seeded
into the I-29 median for two miles starting at the state border and extending
south.</P>
<P>By the following summer, annual wildflowers were blooming. In 2012, an NRCS
evaluation noted that the perennial wildflowers were becoming more dominant and
that flowers were blooming all season long.</P>
<P>The selected species were sideoats grama, prairie junegrass, little bluestem,
shell leaf penstemon, blackeyed Susan, prairie coneflower, Lewis flax,
plains coreopsis, purple coneflower, Illinois bundleflower,
blanket flower, thickspike gayfeather and greyhead
coneflower.</P>
<P>Maintenance of the area—primarily annual mowing and weed control—will be
provided by the South Dakota Department of Transportation.</P>
<P>The planting has beautified the landscape and welcomes travelers entering
South Dakota with beautiful native wildflowers. It also provides a source of
food for pollinators and nesting habitat for ground-dwelling birds.</P>
<P>This project was the result of the cooperative effort of the <A href="http://robertscd.org/">Roberts Conservation District</A>, NRCS Sisseton
Field Office, <A href="http://www.fws.gov/">U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service</A>, the <A href="http://www.swo-nsn.gov/">Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate</A>,
South Dakota Department of Transportation and several local businesses.</P>
<P>Follow NRCS on <A href="http://twitter.com/usda_nrcs">Twitter</A>.</P>
<P>Check out other conservation-related stories on the <A href="http://blogs.usda.gov/category/conservation">USDA blog</A>.</P>
<DIV style="WIDTH: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><IMG alt="The planting extends for 2 miles, and provides habitat for native pollinators, as well as cover for ground-nesting birds. Photos by Thomas Tran, NRCS." src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3759/9093151737_b635b2147e.jpg" width=500 height=375>
<P class=wp-caption-text>The planting extends for 2 miles, and provides habitat
for native pollinators, as well as cover for ground-nesting birds. Photos by
Thomas Tran, NRCS.</P></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">Laurie Davies
Adams<BR>Executive Director<BR>Pollinator Partnership<BR>4</FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10">23 Washington St.
5th Fl.<BR>San Francisco, CA 94111<BR>T: 415.362.1137<BR>F: 415.362.0176<BR><IMG SRC="cid:X.MA1.1371863216@aol.com" border=0 width=319 height=173 DATASIZE="27063" ID="MA1.1371863216" ></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#000000 size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR>Follow up on <A href="http://twitter.com/#!/Pollinators">Twitter</A> and <A href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pollinator-Partnership/48680445464">Facebook</A>!</FONT></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>