An Ecological Approach to Integrating Conservation and Highway Planning, Volume 1

TRB’s second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) S2-C06-RW-1: An Ecological Approach to Integrating Conservation and Highway Planning, Volume 1 summarizes the research approach and major findings of a project designed to help transportation and environmental professionals apply ecological principles early in the planning and programming process of highway capacity improvements to inform later environmental reviews and permitting.

The report is part one of a four-volume set. The other volumes in the set are:

• An Ecological Approach to Integrating Conservation and Highway Planning, Volume 2 is a summary of the approach and outcomes of a partner project, Integration of Conservation, Highway Planning, and Environmental Permitting through Development of an Outcome-Based Ecosystem-Scale Approach and Corresponding Credit System.
• The third volume, Practitioner’s Guide to the Integrated Ecological Framework, describes the IEF and outlines a way to integrate the conservation and restoration needs and objectives of multiple entities.
• The fourth volume, Manager’s Guide to the Integrated Ecological Framework, provides a basic understanding of the Integrated Ecological Framework (IEF), a nine-step process for integrating ecological and transportation planning.

A supplemental report, Integrated Ecological Framework Outreach Project, documents the techniques used to disseminate the project's results into practitioner communities and provides technical assistance and guidance to those agencies piloting the products.

The primary product of these complementary efforts is the Integrated Ecological Framework (IEF). The IEF is a step-by-step process guiding the integration of transportation and ecological planning. Each step of the IEF is supported by a database of case studies, data, methods, and tools. The IEF is available through the Transportation for Communities—Advancing Projects through Partnerships (TCAPP) website. TCAPP is now known as PlanWorks.