2010 Annual Report - Maryland State Highway Administration

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VII Environmental Compliance and Stewardship Green Infrastructure The Maryland members of the lead-state on the AASHTO Technology Implementation Group (comprised of SHA, Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and The Conservation Fund) pursued their mission in FY 2010 to market GIS technology to other state DOTs that lack this technology in their transportation-planning processes and efforts. The technology is two-fold; on the one hand, it is a GIS tool developed by DNR to highlight Maryland's network of important resources, and, on the other, The Conservation Fund's approach on how to best utilize the GIS tool to optimize opportunities to support sustainable ecosystems. Just as SHA highway networks are planned for long-term use with safety and mobility of the traveling public as the main goal, so also must our natural resources network be planned to preserve critical natural and cultural resources for sustainability of Maryland’s ecosystems. The AASHTO Technology Implementation Group presented this technology at the 2010 American Planning Association’s Delaware-Maryland regional conference in May 2010 and at the Transportation Research Board’s 2010 Environment and Energy workshop in June. SHA's Climate Change Program A strategic plan for climate change adaptation was completed and reviewed by a joint SHA/MDTA Climate Adaptation Team in FY 2010. The Team first met in February 2010 and will continue to meet to engage in infrastructure adaptation planning with a focus on how SHA transportation assets need to adapt to the effects of climate change. The strategic plan identifies strategies already in process as well as others to be implemented. A GIS application is being used to identify areas vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge in relation to SHA assets, including roads, bridges, and facilities. GIS tool development and infrastructure analysis will continue to further identify and develop strategies within the adaptation plan. SHA’s Climate Change Program supports MDOT initiatives and the Governor's Climate Change Action Plan. Environmental enhancements as an integral part of ICC Work continued on more than 50 ICC environmental mitigation and stewardship projects; The largest stream restoration project in Maryland’s history was awarded this past year to provide 18,000 linear feet (3.9 miles) of stream restoration along Northwest Branch, adjacent to Bonifant Road. The project includes innovative features and structures designed to improve and enhance the Northwest Branch’s ecosystem; it will reduce soil erosion and reconnect the stream channel to its original floodplain. This project will use large trees harvested from the ICC Contract B’s right-of-way (ROW) to restore the stream’s natural character by careful placement of the trees along its banks; 62 STATE HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION | FY 2010 Annual Report
Number of Trees Environmental Compliance and Stewardship VII The ICC project’s reforestation program planted 64 acres of trees, with three planting sites either completed or underway; While clearing land for the ICC, six large stands of bamboo were identified and donated to the National Zoo to help feed their giant pandas. Giant pandas are listed as endangered in the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Animals; Fourth- and fifth-graders from Washington Christian Academy in Olney participated in an Earth Day event organized by the ICC project staff. Turtle search staffers taught the students how the Eastern Box Turtle initiative has saved approximately 900 turtles. The turtle initiative, part of the ICC project’s extensive $370 million environmental program, began prior to construction in fall 2007. An update of the three-year study, conducted by Towson University in partnership with SHA, was also issued; SHA and the Montgomery County Department of Parks hosted a grand opening celebration and ribbon-cutting on June 19 for the Olney Manor Dog Park, which is a part of the ICC’s extensive community stewardship program. The enclosed, one-acre park includes separate areas for both large and small dogs, seating for dog owners and plenty of trees for shade. One Million Trees Initiative 800000 700000 600000 500000 400000 300000 200000 100000 0 SHA Million Tree Initiative Contribution 2008 2009 Fiscal Year 2008 2009 2010 SHA worked with DNR, FHWA, the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services (DPSCS) and community organizations to plant native trees along Maryland roadsides and in state ROW in central, southern, eastern and western Maryland. SHA is funding the trees and materials and DNR is funding the labor provided by DPSCS inmates. Since the program’s initiation in FY 2008 to FY 2010, SHA has directly planted or funded the planting of 500,297 new trees. These plantings are part of the One Million Trees initiative, part of Governor O’Malley’s Smart, Green, and Growing initiative, as noted above. Trees are important to creating a sustainable environment. Planting trees reduces SHA’s inventory of areas to mow, which helps to decrease greenhouse gas emission from mowers and operational costs to SHA. An acre of mature trees can absorb an equal amount of carbon dioxide produced by a car driven 26,000 miles per year. Trees also stabilize topsoil and save energy by shading surfaces during summer months. The project, lasting up to two years, will also help employ up to ten people from the region. Helping to Restore the American Chestnut In FY 2010 SHA and the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF) Maryland Chapter signed a partnership agreement to plant hybrid blight-resistant American chestnut trees on nearly two acres of land near the Hampstead Bypass (MD 30) in Carroll County. The American chestnut tree population was almost wiped out in the 1950s, following the loss of nine million acres of native chestnut trees affected by a non-native fungus blight first recognized in 1904. American STATE HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION | FY 2010 Annual Report 63
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i Glossary of Terms and Acronyms A
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I Overview of State Highway Adminis
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The Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the
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II Excellence in Our People and Our
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2010 Annual Report - Maryland State Highway Administration

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