Item 8-d - Resolution of Approval – Adopt Best Management Practices for Roadsides and Utility Rights-of-Way that Benefit Pollinators and Native Plants in Orange County, NC

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1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 11, 2018 Action Agenda Item No. 8-d SUBJECT: Resolution of Approval —Adopt Best Management Practices for Roadsides and Utility Rights-of-Way that Benefit Pollinators and Native Plants in Orange County, NC DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation (DEAPR) ATTACHMENTS INFORMATION CONTACT: 1. Draft Resolution David Stancil, 245-2510 2. NC Botanical Garden Letter Kim Livingston, 245-2514 3. Resolution (June 2012) Tom Davis, 245-2513 4. CFE Memo & Resolution (November 2009) 5. CFE Memo (December 2006) PURPOSE: To consider a resolution to implement voluntary roadside and utility rights-of- way best management practices that will increase the visibility, enjoyment, and conservation of pollinators and native plants along the roadways and utility rights-of-way in Orange County. BACKGROUND: In 2006 the Commission for the Environment (CFE) began examining the use of herbicides to control the growth of vegetation on roadsides and utility rights-of-way, and the adverse effects of herbicides on certain roadsides that provide habitat for a variety of native plants, some of which are rare in Orange County. In 2012 the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) adopted a resolution recommending identifying roadsides with uniquely important habitats and working with landowners and utility managers to conserve those areas. That resolution was a follow-up to a 2009 CFE adopted resolution recommending that all use of herbicides to manage roadsides and utility rights-of- way be discontinued in Orange County, and that mowing be reinstated as the sole means of managing unwanted vegetation in those areas. The 2009 CFE resolution was a follow-up to a December 2006 memo to the BOCC in which the CFE reported on this subject. Copies of those documents are attached. The North Carolina Botanical Garden (NCBG) and volunteers surveyed Orange County roadways to identify uniquely important habitats and found that virtually all roadsides and utility corridors had valuable native habitats for pollinators worthy of conservation. Additionally, the NCBG found that the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) was mowing rather than using herbicides as their primary means for vegetation control, and utility companies were still using herbicide as their primary means for vegetation control. The NCBG requested that the CFE consider revising the 2012 resolution to reflect the change in focus on roadside and rights-of-way conservation.