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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Determining the Testing, Limits and Elimination of CWD Prions in Composting Byproducts for MDT</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2478261</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) a transmissible disease affecting deer, poses significant challenges for deer population management, and safe disposal of deer carcasses. Composting animal carcasses is an environmentally friendly disposal method and is being successfully used in some areas of Montana for animals killed along the roadways. Yet concerns persist regarding the presence of infectious proteins or prions that cause CWD in the compost byproducts. These prions are notoriously resilient, withstanding standard composting temperatures and environmental degradation, thus raising questions
about their persistence and potential spreading through applications of compost byproducts.

Currently MDT cannot use the animal composting byproducts because the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) has expressed concern that it may spread CWD to uninfected animals. The composting byproduct is essentially topsoil, which MDT has plenty of uses if available for application along the roadside. Currently, it is simply stored at the composting site. If it can’t be used, it will have to be disposed in a landfill.

This proposal investigates the feasibility of using deer composting byproducts in transportation applications (e.g., soil stabilization, erosion control, or road construction and topsoil for vegetation along MDT's ROW) while assessing the associated risks of prion contamination. The study also considers the detection limits of prions in compost and defines thresholds for “prion-free” classification based on current detection technologies.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2024 11:23:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2478261</guid>
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      <title>Monarch Conservation Strategies for Texas Roadways</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2135533</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) supported federal listing of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in December 2020, but listing is currently delayed due to other higher priority listing actions. Texas roadways play a critical role in the successful spring and fall migrations of the eastern monarch butterfly population. TxDOT project 0-7022, “Evaluating Fall Monarch Butterfly Roadkill Hotspot Incidence and Potential Roadkill Mitigation” has revealed perennial hotspots for fall monarch butterfly roadkill in Texas. Yearly roadkill can comprise up to 2.5% of the Mexican overwintering population. Spring and fall roadside milkweed and monarch-preferred nectar plant hotspots have also been identified which provide critical resources to monarchs in terms of both milkweed larval food and flower nectar for adults.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 09 Mar 2023 17:08:38 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2135533</guid>
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      <title>Incorporating Wildlife Crossings into TxDOT's Project Development Design and Operations Processes</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1455577</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Wildlife crossings are areas of concentrated animal movement intercepted by roadways. Animal-vehicle collisions lead to mortality of animals and safety concerns to the motoring public. These collisions can be costly in terms of damage to vehicles, loss of life of people and wildlife, and improving or retrofitting facilities to avoid these adverse interactions needs to be evaluated for efficiency. The Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have published national guidelines for crossing structures, data collection, and fencing. This research project will allow Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to update its manuals and specifications to make them current with successful practices used nationwide and around the world. To assist TxDOT in addressing these goals, the researchers will incorporate updates and additions for implementing national recommendations for incorporating wildlife crossings related information into TxDOT’s manuals and specifications. They will synthesize TxDOT’s institutional knowledge and undertake reviews to compare TxDOT’s efforts to other state DOTs and FHWA recommendations, to determine practices for design and retrofitting to work best in the context of Texas’ unique natural wildlife diversity and transportation infrastructure. The researchers will then identify appropriate techniques for different species in different Texas biogeographic contexts, provide the costs and benefits, and update TxDOT manuals and documents accordingly.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 17 Feb 2017 14:41:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1455577</guid>
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      <title>Develop Roadway Crossings for Sensitive Amphibians</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1441778</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This task will develop, validate, and produce practitioner guidance for ways that sensitive amphibian taxa can use to cross roads. The taxa of interest to California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) include: Arroyo Toad, Yosemite Toad, California Red-legged Frog, Sierra Nevada Yellow-legged Frog, Mountain Yellow-legged Frogs, California Tiger Salamander, and Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamander.  Areas of interest include road crossing materials, road crossing dimensions, ecological conditions within road crossings, means for preventing amphibian access to shoulders and pavement, and how to integrate amphibian road crossings with crossings for other kinds of wildlife.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 04 Jan 2017 10:52:11 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1441778</guid>
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      <title>Develop Roadway Crossings for Reptiles</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1441777</link>
      <description><![CDATA[This task is to develop, validate, and produce practitioner guidance for ways that sensitive reptile taxa can use to cross roads. The taxa of interest to California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) include: Desert Tortoise, Western Pond Turtle, Giant Garter Snake, San Francisco Garter Snake, Alameda Whipsnake, Coast Horned Lizard and Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard.  Areas of interest include road crossing materials, road crossing dimensions, ecological conditions within road crossings, means for preventing reptile access to shoulders and pavement, and how to integrate reptile road crossings with crossings for other kinds of wildlife.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 04 Jan 2017 10:52:09 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1441777</guid>
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