Ecological Significance, January 2019

East-West Gateway’s January 2019 Map of the Month shows patches of land ranked by ecological significance. East-West Gateway partnered with the Missouri Resource Assessment Partnership (MoRAP) to develop a Regional Ecological Framework as a tool to link conservation, mitigation, and transportation planning. Ecological Significance is one outcome of that framework, which is used in the update of the region’s Long Range Transportation Plan to identify possible environmental impacts very early in the transportation planning process. Federal transportation planning requirements require that Long Range Transportation Plans include consultation and cooperation among local/state agencies that monitor land use management, natural resource preservation, and historic preservation. Plans are also required to include a discussion of environmental mitigation activities.