Rights-Of-Way & Energy Habitat Program
Providing sustainable natural-resources-based solutions
Integrated Habitat Management
The Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Rights-of-Way and Energy (ROWE) Habitat Program improves perennial grassland habitat for wildlife in conjunction with transportation, railway, electric, oil/gas, and solar rights-of-way footprints in the United States. This model also extends to corporate campuses, military installations, and other utility assets.
ROWE industries provide significant opportunities to establish diverse grasslands and secure travel corridors for many wildlife species. Serving as linear ribbons of habitat, rights-of-way have an important role to play in connecting fragmented landscapes in the U.S. for upland birds, pollinators, deer, turkey, songbirds, and migrating wildlife. Additionally, sustainability objectives for carbon capture, water quality and enhanced ecological services are an important byproduct of these efforts.
The Habitat Organization’s history of creating quality cover along rights-of-ways dates all the way back to its 1980s roots, working closely with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and other partners to develop a “Roadsides for Wildlife” campaign. Historically, nearly 1/3 of pheasant populations per county were produced within ROWE corridors.
Sustainable Habitat opportunities
The ROWE Habitat Program provides conservation technical assistance to industry leaders for creating sustainable, integrated habitat management plans with the potential to improve an estimated 35 million rights-of-way and energy acres. Click and view the map below for more information about the wide distribution of gas, railway, electric, and transportation grids across the United States – millions of acres of opportunity to establish quality habitat!