Creating native wildlife habitats on pipeline rights-of-way
Penn State Altoona professor studies vegetation management on Shell’s Falcon Pipeline in Pennsylvania to create future biodiversity opportunities within the industry.
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Title: SHELL PIPELINE COMPANY: FALCON CONSERVATION PROJECT
Duration: 4:37
Description:
The Montour Trail Conservation Project is a collaborative effort between Shell Pipeline, Pheasants Forever, and Penn State University – Altoona which seeks to improve local ecosystems, reduce erosion, and engage the community.
SHELL PIPELINE COMPANY: FALCON CONSERVATION PROJECT Transcript
[Birds chirping]
[Background music plays]
Shell Midstream, Advocacy and Engagement Specialist
Donnie Garrison
Donnie:
I always tell folks that I grew up on a pipeline.
Video footage:
Aerial view of a pipeline right-of-way through a forested area.
Donnie:
Gas industry has always been part of my life.
Video footage:
A man with a beard and a hat standing in a field.
Donnie:
Shell Pipeline operates over 3,000 miles of pipelines. Traditionally, you mow your right-of-way. Mowing is an easy practice. It's a common practice for us all. And it satisfies those regulatory requirements.
Video footage:
Aerial view of a wooded area with a large field and a house.
Donnie:
When you mow grass, it doesn't provide habitat for native plants or animals. I wanted to know if there was a way for us to change the way that we're maintaining our right-of-ways so we could make a positive effect in our environment.
Video footage:
Purple flowers in a field with a green background.
Donnie:
I met Carolyn during a right-of-way summit at Penn State.
Video footage:
A woman walking through a field of tall grass.
Donnie:
Carolyn is a subject-matter expert, been doing this kind of work with power utility companies for a long time.
Video footage:
Someone is holding a plant in their hand in a field.
Donnie:
And I asked her, I said, can this be applied to pipelines? And she said yes. And our partnership started that day.
Carolyn:
So this is the type of habitat that we are looking for.
Video footage:
A woman walking through a field of flowers.
Penn State University, Professor of Biology and Researcher
Carolyn Mahan, Ph.D.
Carolyn:
This is September in the Appalachian Mountains. And this is a fairly representative old-field habitat. There's 25 different species of goldenrod in Pennsylvania, and this is one of them. So I'm a professor of biology. And I also am a researcher. And I run a program in environmental studies which uses interdisciplinary learning to solve environmental issues. Right now, there are millions of acres that are in human landscapes--
Video footage:
A field of grass with the sun shining through the grass.
Carolyn:
--in particular, rights-of-ways, that we manage in a very traditional way.
Video footage:
A tractor mowing down the road.
Carolyn:
If you can take those millions of acres and promote native plant communities, that could be a game changer for important wildlife that the ecosystem and, in fact, humans depend upon. I was resistant to working with Shell for a little while until I met Donnie, to be quite honest. My concern was that I needed a company that was going to be interested in research. Once I realized they were committed to research, not just a demonstration, then I became interested in working with them.
Video footage:
Aerial view of a pipeline wooded area.
Donnie:
The basis of this project is for us to look at the different techniques and apply the best techniques throughout our right-of-ways and our facilities for Shell Pipeline.
Video footage:
Man in a green shirt and hat standing in a field.
Donnie:
We have a lot of the right partners in place like the Penn States and the Pheasants and Quail Forever working with us because they have the knowledge. We're helping show, how do you apply that knowledge to our assets?
[BEES BUZZING]
Pheasants and Quail Forever, Rights-of-Way and Energy Coordinator
Mike Retterer
Mike:
As we were collaborating on other projects and looking at other opportunities across the country, this one just came up, brought it up. It's, let's go look at it and see if there are any opportunities. And then we talked through it together.
Video footage:
A man in an orange shirt and a hat. A bee that is sitting on a yellow flower.
Mike:
We decided the Shell Falcon pipeline would be a good case for best management practices for a right-of-way. And then it evolved into a great opportunity to do a research project.
Carolyn:
Shell helped us design this project to look at different types of treatments on pipelines so that we could see how biodiversity responds to different ways of managing vegetation.
[GUITAR MUSIC]
[Text displays]
Mowing Vegetation Management
Donnie:
We're doing a really big event.
Video footage:
Group of people walking down a dirt road in a field.
Donnie:
We have almost 60 guests, well over 20-plus state officials that we've been able to engage with. Typically, they don't show up to this kind of stuff.
Donnie:
Yeah, so traditionally, you mow your right-of-way.
Donnie:
We normally would say this is fantastic. It looks great. It's green. We can see our pipeline markers. That's a lot of pride of what I said that how we used to operate.
Video footage:
A sign reads, "Habitat management in progress."
Carolyn:
We have many species along this right-of-way.
Carolyn:
--types of rights-of-way to provide that type of habitat.
Video footage:
Many people standing on the side of the road.
Donnie:
Just learning with our partners that there's other opportunities to implement different techniques that is going to benefit the environment as well as benefiting your operations.
Mike:
What I'm looking for as a result of this is not only Shell but other pipeline companies taking this information and then implementing these management techniques across the landscape just because the large, vast connective habitats that this could create across the country.
American Petroleum Institute, Vice President of Midstream Policy
Robin Rorick
Robin:
Just by switching and changing one behavior, you're able to get a whole host of benefits-- pollinators, gaming species like deer and turkey, supporting endangered and threatened species.
Video footage:
A sign that reads, "No Mow Area" on it.
Video footage:
A man in a blue shirt standing in front of a field.
Donnie:
Us as a pipeline industry, we can all make changes.
Video footage:
A tall plant with white flowers in a field.
Donnie:
I'm very proud of our partnership with Penn State, Pheasants and Quail Forever, and American Petroleum Institute. You having non-traditional partners partner up and you working for a change is a positive effect in our environment.
Video footage:
A woman that is picking some flowers from a tree.
Donnie:
It was a goal for all of us.
Video footage:
A yellow and white sign in the middle of a field.
[GUITAR FLOURISH]
While attending graduate school at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), Dr. Carolyn Mahan joined her advisor on a biodiversity study on transmission lines.
The study’s goal was to find ways to manage the vegetation under electrical utility lines, initially finding ways to keep tall trees out of rights-of-way, but also to encourage biodiversity.
The conservation of biodiversity includes encouraging native plants, pollinators, breeding birds, as well as butterflies, ground beetles and game species.
A right-of-way is a type of legal land easement that may be established to permit the construction of infrastructure such as pipelines, electric transmission lines or roads.
Dr. Mahan is still involved in that biodiversity project, and some could say it helped lay the foundation for her work today. She moved on to other research areas after graduate school but came back to this line of research in 2014. She has been working as a principal investigator on rights-of-way research for approximately the past 10 years.
As a professor of biology and environmental studies at Penn State University – Altoona (Penn State Altoona), Dr. Mahan teaches courses in environmental studies and runs a program which uses interdisciplinary learning to solve environmental issues. Interdisciplinary approaches are critical to solving complex environmental problems with a variety of partners—including industry.
Dr. Carolyn Mahan, professor of biology and environmental studies, Penn State AltoonaAs a researcher and teacher, an important aspect of my career is to illustrate that environmental issues are complex and we all have to work together to solve them, especially when industry and academia and students meet for a common goal.
From transmission lines to pipelines
While Dr. Mahan was working on the transmission lines right-of-way project, Penn State Altoona held a summit and invited energy companies to partake. At that time, Dr. Mahan met Donnie Garrison from Shell Pipeline Company LP (Shell Pipeline), who inquired if the research she was conducting on electric transmission lines could be applicable to pipelines. Her simple answer: yes. That initial conversation led to the creation of the Falcon Conservation Project, focused on enhancing the biodiversity and habitat management along the Falcon Pipeline right-of-way running parallel to the Montour trail in Washington County, Pennsylvania—a 30-acre section that is part of the 97-mile common carrier ethane pipeline, owned and operated by Shell Pipeline.
Shell Pipeline and other energy companies manage about 30 million acres of rights-of-way in North America. Dr. Mahan’s philosophy is that if you can take those millions of acres of pipeline rights-of-way, and promote native plant communities, it could be a game changer for creating native habitat for wildlife that the ecosystem and, in fact, humans depend upon.
Turning data into information
Dr. Mahan was seeking a company that was going to be interested in research, not just good press. Shell Pipeline helped the Penn State research office design a project on Shell’s Falcon Pipeline to look at different types of treatments on pipelines and how biodiversity responds to different ways of managing vegetation. For Shell Pipeline, it was a good case for implementing best management practices for a right-of-way. It then evolved into a great opportunity for research.
Dr. Mahan and her team began year one of research on Shell’s Falcon Pipeline with preliminary sampling and surveying work over the summer. They discovered rare native plants, monarch butterflies and grassland birds (some of special conservation concern) utilizing the right-of-way habitat, which she finds promising for the rest of the conservation project.
This three-year research endeavor is part of Shell Pipeline’s Right-of-Way Conservation Program. A final report and presentation to research partners will take place in June 2027 with management recommendations and implications for future research discussed.
Turning information into insight
Dr. Mahan hopes that the results of this research will equip other companies to implement these management techniques across the landscape, potentially creating large, vast connective habitats across the country.
Historically, the most common practice for maintaining rights-of-way on gas pipelines is regular mowing. Mowing can be easier to maintain, and easier to comply with regulations since vegetation will be short. Other management practices include high volume, non-selective application of herbicides, frequent mowing or mulching.
This research seeks to change that view by implementing selective application of herbicides to non-compatible plants only and/or implementing conservation mowing approaches—all part of integrated vegetation management.
Dr. Carolyn Mahan, professor of biology and environmental studies, Penn State AltoonaJust by switching and changing one behavior, you're able to get a whole host of benefits, including pollinators, gaming species like deer and turkey, and supporting endangered and threatened species.
Dr. Mahan hopes her research findings will be an example for other companies to follow in pursuit of their own environmental, social and governance goals. The research also could encourage more public participation and partnerships to promote managing rights-of-way for biodiversity.
Dr. Carolyn Mahan, professor of biology and environmental studies, Penn State AltoonaIf we can get companies to change their vegetation management approaches, we can create a robust ecosystem that can support pollinators, plants and native wildlife.
Shell USA Inc. supports efforts across Pennsylvania State University’s mission of research, education and community impact. An initial commitment from Shell of more than $1 million is funding initiatives focused on energy transition, decarbonization, polymer recycling and biodiversity.
Learn more Penn State, Shell collaboration funds environmental research project | Penn State Altoona