Living snowfence
Iowa winters mean hazardous driving conditions, especially in
areas where blowing snow reduces visibility and drifts form across
roadways. Roadside managers across the state have found that native tall
grasses -- even just a narrow planting at the back of the right-of-way
-- create a "living snowfence" ... catching snow and depositing it in
the ditch instead of on the roadway. Watch for these functional
plantings along Iowa's state and county roads.
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Roadside Opportunities
The native grasses and wildflowers of
Iowa’s original prairie landscape are
well-adapted for use on roadsides. Hardy
and beautiful, native roadsides offer
aesthetic, economic, environmental, and
educational opportunities. Establishing
prairie plants in roadside
rights-of-way:
- provides low-maintenance
weed and erosion control
- reduces surface runoff
and erosion by improving
infiltration
- reduces snow drifting
and winter glare
- ensures sustainability
by increasing species
diversity
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- enhances wildlife
habitat
- beautifies the landscape
by providing
ever changing
color and texture
throughout
the year
- preserves our natural
heritage
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Support Iowa's Resource
Enhancement and Protection
(REAP) program
 The
state of Iowa invests in the
enhancement and protection of
its natural and cultural
resources through REAP. The
annual REAP appropriation is set
by the legislature,
and is supplemented by sales of
natural resource license plates.
The Living Roadway Trust Fund is
one of many beneficiaries of the
program. Iowa citizens are
the biggest beneficiaries, and
have several opportunities to
ensure REAP's success. Visit
REAP to learn more, or click
the license plate for
information about purchasing
natural resource plates.
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