STAUNTON — The Covington-Hot Springs Rotary Club is working to benefit a wide variety of threatened and dwindling pollinator species.
Friday, the Rotary Club planted beds of native plants in the Longdale area of Alleghany County as part of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Pollinator Habitat Program.
Members of the Rotary Club gathered early Friday morning at the Interstate 64 east truck safety rest area in Longdale to perform their work. The plants were placed in prepared beds totaling 2,000 square feet in size. The beds were prepped by a VDOT contractor. All of the plants are native perennials and grasses, most of them native to the region.
This pollinator waystation is a hands-on and educational opportunity that serves the program and the local community.
“The Covington-Hot Springs Rotary Club has always been about being in the community,” said Dr. Paul Linkenhoker, the club’s president.
Rotary member Bill Wilson, who is a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, came up with the idea of participating in the pollinator program.
Wilson, who is president of the Jackson River Preservation Association, said the Rotary project can help fight climate change, which he sees as a serious issue.
“You are talking about something so serious that I don’t think we can get our minds around it. It’s a crisis,” Wilson said.
Virginia Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Warm Springs, was on hand Friday to offer support for the Rotary Club’s project. Also present was Stacey Moulds, coordinator of VDOT’s Pollinator Habitat Program.
The VDOT Pollinator Habitat Program strives to create natural areas of native plants along state-maintained roads and properties. The areas provide habitats to threatened and dwindling pollinator species, which include honey and native bees, butterflies, birds, bats, flies and beetles. Pollinators contribute to the U.S. economy by keeping fruits, nuts and vegetables fertilized through a process of moving pollen from one flower or plant to another. Only fertilized flowers can make fruit and seeds.
Throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, pollinator beds can be found at various interstate rest areas. Signs indicate the location of these beds, which can serve as an educational spot for all travelers while making viable habitats available to many pollinator species. The number of waystations continues to grow with a focus on natural gardens and meadows at rest areas, park-and-ride lots, and additional VDOT properties.
The locations have reduced mowing so that plants can mature and produce seeds. Additionally, the plantings increase native vegetation to stabilize slopes and reduce erosion. Deep roots of native plants also decrease stormwater runoff. Pollinator plantings help to decrease invasive species to reduce the costs of removing problem vegetation and using herbicides.
Funding for the VDOT Pollinator Habitat Program comes from purchases of the Wildflower and Protect Pollinators license plates. The plates are available for purchase through the Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles.
For more information on the Pollinator Habitat Program visit the VDOT website at VirginiaDOT.org and type pollinator in the search bar or go to this link: https://www.virginiadot.org/programs/pollinator_habitat_program.asp
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