Pollinator Habitat Program
Shawn A. Bible
Highway Beautification Office Manager
Shawn.A.Bible@tn.gov Phone: 615.741.2877
Fax: 615.532.5995
Twitter: @TDOT_Beautify
Find your Best Pollinator Plants Here
Pollinators are a diverse group of species which includes birds, bees, butterflies, bats and beetles. They are critically important to life and their numbers are in steady decline as a result of loss of habitat, pests and pathogens, exposure to pesticides, and other stressors. In response, pollinator-friendly language has been included in the nation’s transportation funding law, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act (Pub. L. 114-94). Tennessee Department of Transportation is following this important legislation and taking the lead in establishing pollinator policies and practices by:
Integrating vegetation management practices on roadsides including reduced mowing; and
Developing habitat for Monarch and other butterfly species, honey bees, and other native pollinators through planting native flowering plants and grasses, including noninvasive native milkweed species that can serve as migratory way stations for butterflies and facilitate the migration of other pollinators.
Pollinator Habitat Project Locations
Project Location Information
Legend
Habitat Plantings
Habitat Protection Surveys
The Tennessee Department of Transportation is doing its part to meet these pollinator-friendly goals by building and maintaining pollinator habitat along our 13,807 miles of state-maintained roadways and near welcome centers and rest stops, including:
- Best maintenance practices and sound ecological principles, through Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management (IRVM methods are currently utilized along guardrails.)
- Modify mowing schedules to be compatible with pollinator cycles
- Utilize swath mowing practices to reduce costs and increase habitat (currently implemented)
- Include pollinator plants in roadside landscaping during new construction and rehabilitation projects where possible
- Establish pollinator meadows and gardens at Welcome Centers and Rest Stops across the state
- Develop roadside pilot projects across the state (Research is currently underway. More information TBA.)
- Create information signage to educate the public about the many benefits of pollinators
Look for more good things to come as we work to connect and create pollinator habitats across the beautiful state of Tennessee.
National Pollinator Week
In 2007, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved and designated a week in June as National Pollinator Week. The celebration is a nationwide effort that calls attention to the steps everyone-from government to private sector to individual citizens-can take to protect and restore pollinator populations. This year, National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2020, as designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of the Interior. For more information on how you can help, visit the Pollinator Partnership website.
•Pollinator Questions and Answers (PDF)
•Full Sun Garden 1 Planting Plans (PDF)
•Full Sun Garden 2 and 3 Planting Plans (PDF)
•Full Sun Raingarden Planting Plans (PDF)
•Shade Garden Planting Plans (PDF)
•Residential Pollinator Habitat Checklist (PDF)
•Guide to Exceptional Tennessee Pollinator Plants (PDF)
•East Tennessee (PDF)
•Middle Tennessee (PDF)
•West Tennessee (PDF)
•Landscaping with Native Evergreens (PDF)
•Landscaping with Native Plants (PDF)
•Tennessee Department of Agriculture - Bees
•Tennessee Department of Agriculture - Honey Bees for Pollination
•Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency - Pollinator Habitat Assistance
•US Department of Agriculture - Pollinator Assistance Programs
•US Fish & Wildlife Service - Attracting Pollinators to Your Garden
•USDA Forest Service - Attracting Pollinators to Your Garden Using Native Plants
•USDA Forest Service - Gardening for Pollinators
•USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service - Pollinator-Friendly Plants for Northeast United States
•The Xerces Society - Project Milkweed
•Pollinator Partnership - Technical Manual for Maintaining Roadsides for Pollinators Establishment, Restoration, Management and Maintenance- A Guide for State DOT Managers and Staff
• Western Federal Lands - An Integrated Approach to Establishing Native Plants and Pollinator Habitat