Dalton Highway Exotic Plants
Environmental Assessment
Project Date: 2010-present
Project Manager: Eveline Martin (The Mangi Environmental Group)
+ Shelly Wade (Agnew::Beck)
Client: Bureau of Land Management
Location: BLM's Dalton Highway Management Area, Alaska
Project Description
Invasive weeds are spreading quickly along the Dalton Highway and, without any natural controls, they’re affecting the area’s ecosystem.
The Bureau of Land Management, which manages 2 million acres along the highway, has drafted a plan, Dalton Highway Management Area Integrated Invasive Plant Strategic Plan, to curb the spread of invasive weeds in the Dalton Management Area. But before the plan
can
be implemented, BLM must prepare an Environmental Assessment detailing how the recommended management practices would affect the area.
BLM has hired The Mangi Environmental Group and Agnew::Beck to assist in preparing the assessment. A component of the assessment process includes engaging the public and stakeholders to identify additional issues associated with invasive plants.
Background Information
The Dalton Highway begins in Fairbanks and ends in the North Slope at Deadhorse near Prudhoe Bay on the state’s far north coast. It also crosses the Yukon watershed and other rivers.
The Dalton Management Area extends from the area along the highway north of the Yukon River and south of Slope Mountain. In 2009, BLM drafted the Dalton Highway Integrated Invasive Plant Strategic Plan in association with partners and stakeholders in an attempt to control the spread of invasive plants in this area and its watersheds.
The Dalton Highway was built in 1974 as a “haul road” to resupply oil fields on the North Slope and to maintain the Trans Alaskan Pipeline. Originally
it meant only for industrial traffic but was opened for public use in 1995. Since then, the highway has become a gateway for travelers and traffic has steadily increased. Along with that traffic, invasive plants and their seeds hitchhike on tires and clothes and freight spreading along waterways and gravel bars.
Resources
Questions?
Contact Shelly Wade shelly@agnewbeck.com or call 907.222.5424.
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