Protected wildlife species that utilize the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) bridges and structures may be susceptible to impacts from routine maintenance and inspection activities. In response to community-driven concerns related to the conservation of protected terrestrial species and due to the lack of existing guidance for bridge related activities, WSDOT expanded their Highway Maintenance Environmental Compliance Guidance for Protected Terrestrial Species to include guidance for bridges. Two documents were developed, one document specific to bridge inspection activities, and one specific to maintenance activities. The guidance is performance outcome based, and requires that inspection and maintenance activities avoid adverse impacts to nesting protected birds and other wildlife. The guidance has been implemented and is successfully being used by bridge inspection and maintenance staff.

The purpose of this project was to develop methods to analyze impacts from and find solutions for habitat fragmentation resulting from the construction of a new highway across two military bases (McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis Army Base). The bases contain large blocks of rare terrestrial habitats. The need to maintain the security of the bases limits the ability to use on-site methods, such as underpasses and crossing structures. In 2003, the Crossbase highway project, which had been a Pierce County-sponsored project, was identified as a new state highway, and thus became the Washington State Department of Transportation’s (WSDOT) responsibility. The six-mile-long highway cuts through two adjoining military bases to connect a heavily developed urban/industrial area with Interstate 5. Both military bases have core areas containing airfields, housing, operational, and commercial areas that are surrounded by largely undeveloped natural habitats consisting of large wetlands, coniferous forests, rare oak woodlands, and rare native prairie areas. These natural areas are bisected by an extensive network of gravel and paved roads and are used for military training activities. These rare habitats support four federal candidate species, and one state-listed endangered species. Development activities surrounding the military bases have fragmented and eliminated much of the habitats outside of the bases. The new highway is expected to result in three main ecological impacts: direct loss of rare habitat types, decreased use of surrounding habitat due to impacts associated with the operation of the highway (e.g., noise), and habitat fragmentation or isolation of habitats. While mitigation ratios exist to address the elimination of habitats such as wetlands, no ratios or methods exist to quantify impacts associated with operation impacts or habitat fragmentation. Working in conjunction with Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), WSDOT developed a method to assess these impacts based on the level of function that would be lost. This method was used to determine what the total habitat enhancement and restoration package for the Crossbase highway should be. The resulting habitat enhancement and restoration package that was developed consists of three parts: acquisition of a large parcel of rare habitat, restoration and enhancement of the acquired site, and providing funding for additional restoration, acquisition, and enhancement activities. While construction of the highway has not begun, WSDOT is proceeding with acquiring the restoration and enhancement site and has provided funding for the additional acquisition, restoration, and enhancement activities. The developed method will be used on other new highway projects in the future.

Problem Statement There are 10 species of plants in Washington State that are listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. One species, showy stickseed Hackelia venusta, occurs within the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) right-of-way of SR 2, in Tumwater Canyon, along with four other rare plant species. Tumwater Canyon is located in the Wenatchee National Forest (WNF), and a portion of the canyon has been designated the Tumwater Botanical Area, which is managed as a Special Interest Area. The potential for conflicts between the management of rare plants and public transportation has long been recognized for this section of the canyon. Project Objective The objective of this project was to move the management of this species beyond a project-by-project basis, by developing a management plan to cover necessary highway maintenance activities.

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) owns over 3,000 steel and concrete bridges, many of which are occupied by wildlife. Species documented occupying bridges range from birds of prey, such as ospreys, peregrines and owls, to mammals such as raccoons, bats and bushy tailed wood rats. While the bridges are playing an important role in providing habitat for wildlife, their presence can also lead to costly project delays. Project Objective The project objective is to develop a comprehensive approach to managing wildlife issues on bridges that will allow WSDOT to manage the bridges for wildlife where appropriate, and to address the regulatory issues that must be addressed for projects to proceed smoothly

Deer and elk vehicle collisions are a major safety concern for highways. While there are a number of methods which can be used to reduce collisions, the selection of the appropriate method is complicated by the fact that Washington is home to four subspecies of deer, in addition to elk and moose. Differences between the life history of the species and the types of habitat they occupy can lead to differences in what methods may be suitable for reducing vehicle-ungulate collisions. The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) maintains a deer kill database which contains information on where dead ungulates are removed from the state highways. This information is used along with site-specific information to determine what type of mitigation method may work the best to reduce the ungulate vehicle collisions.

Washington State has been experiencing an increase in the number of species listed under the Endangered Species Act in recent years. Almost every single construction project completed by the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) must complete a section 7 consultation. To facilitate the section 7 process, WSDOT has developed a proactive approach to imminent listings under the act. The approaches include completing Programmatic Biological Assessments, completion of site specific management plans for listed and soon to be listed species on WSDOT right-of-ways, the establishment of specific programs to help recover species, such as our fish passage barrier replacement program, and finally, conducting or sponsoring research on candidate species or species of concern. This paper describes the process that was established to select the species that would benefit most from research. Some of the ongoing and recently completed research projects are also discussed.

Protected plant and wildlife species that grow, forage, nest, roost, or migrate near the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) highway system may be susceptible to impacts from routine maintenance activities. In response to community-driven concerns related to the conservation of protected terrestrial species and due to the lack of existing guidance for maintenance personnel when protected-species conflicts arose, WSDOT biologists and maintenance personnel worked together to develop new guidance. The purpose of the guidance is to provide maintenance personnel with resources that identify which projects occur in sensitive plant and wildlife areas and identify best management practices (BMPs) that can be implemented to minimize or avoid impacts to protected terrestrial species in Washington State. Existing sensitive-species data and aerial photographs were used to identify locations of sensitive species and habitats and to develop guidance. To verify habitat presence, biologists conducted site visits to areas identified as possible sensitive habitats. The guidance document is in the form of a field handbook presented in a step-by-step format to facilitate use by WSDOT maintenance personnel. The guidance document provides maps and descriptions of sensitive areas, each identified by state route and milepost. Species information, such as species name, nest sites, wintering sites, or locations of sensitive habitats, are not identified in the guidance document. Alternatively, biologists placed the species into groups based on habitat needs and identified only the state-route mileposts that fall within each sensitive area. This process helped WSDOT prevent publicizing sensitive wildlife data in the guidance documents and avoided the need for evaluation of habitat by maintenance personnel. Common maintenance functions were also broken down into groups. For each sensitive location and maintenance function group, a list of BMPs is provided. BMPs may include timing restrictions, equipment use restrictions, or overall activities that should be avoided during certain seasons. The document does not address all possible conditions that may arise during maintenance operations that could affect protected terrestrial species. Maintenance staff consult with their Regional Maintenance Environmental Coordinator prior to initiating any activity that is not addressed by the guidance document or if there is any uncertainty about the applicability of the guidance. Maintenance activities that are not able to comply with the guidance typically require a field review by a biologist and the development of site-specific BMPs. Maintenance personnel do not follow this guidance for emergency actions because separate procedures were previously developed that adequately address protected species compliance for emergency maintenance actions. This project is currently being piloted with the Olympic Region Maintenance Program. Training courses conducted at individual maintenance sheds have provided opportunity for discussion and question and answer sessions. Biologists and maintenance personnel have had the opportunity to work together to learn each other’s programs, perspectives, and observations to improve the effectiveness of the environmental compliance guidance. The WSDOT Highway Maintenance Environmental Compliance Guidance for Protected Terrestrial Species Program has helped the Maintenance Program conduct