[Beyond Pesticides Fall 2013] — Every year, millions of miles of roads, utility lines, railroad corridors and other types of rights-of-way (ROWs) are polluted with herbicides to control the growth of unwanted plants. However, public concern over the use of dangerous and inadequately tested pesticides has resulted in an increasing effort over the last decade to pass state laws and local policies requiring notification of pesticide use, restrictions on application types and implementation of least-toxic and organic approaches to vegetation management. This report highlights vegetation management on ROWs in select states, and is an update of the original version published 1999 in Pesticides and You. Planting native vegetation, using mechanical, biological and nontoxic vegetation control methods are effective nontoxic solutions. Creating and encouraging stable, low-maintenance vegetation is a more permanent vegetation management strategy. The establishment of desirable plant species that can out-compete undesirable species requires little maintenance and meets the requirements for ROW management. Read the full report …