Idaho Roadside Revegetation Handbook

This paper describes how surface erosion, sedimentation, and shallow-seated slope failures in Idaho present a significant challenge to roadway construction and maintenance. Soil losses from such slopes deplete an important natural resource, induce excessive maintenance such as ditch and culvert clean-outs, and may adversely affect the quality of surface water in the state. Road construction and maintenance activities throughout the state are requiring greater attention to erosion and sediment control concerns due to environmental and economic pressures. Vegetation can be planted to reduce soil loss by holding soil particles in place, filtering soil particles out of run-off, intercepting raindrops, slowing overland flows, and maintaining infiltration. In Idaho, vegetation patterns and community distributions are quite complex due to precipitation extremes, topographic relief, climatic variations, and cultural practices. Precipitation zones can be used to identify species suitable for revegetation that are indigenous to specific construction sites. This guidebook will summarize the characteristics and preferred environments of commonly used grass, grass-like, for, legume, shrub, and tree species for roadside reclamation in Idaho. Native, introduced, and other species adapted to Idaho will be included. A potential species list was determined from numerous published and unpublished works to include field guides, seed catalogs, soil surveys, roadside plant establishment evaluations and input from the Idaho Transportation Department’s roadside manager, district vegetation foreman and design manual. Plant materials included n the potential plant list have root and shoot growth habits that are resistant to the forces of erosion and have the ability to colonize disturbed sites. The format was created to include a title page, brief introduction, table of contents, page for each species, quick reference tables, a reference list, and appropriate enclosures in an appendix.