The Ecological Havens Flourishing Beneath Power Lines

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“We have to mimic those practices, so we look to cut down the vegetation every three to four years,” Turnbull says. This eradicates woody vegetation and eliminates any biomass that has accumulated in the undergrowth.

And it works. Along the Meadoway, pollinators such as the endangered monarch butterfly are attracted to the milkweeds, the only host plant it will consider for its larvae. Native wildflowers such as wild bergamot and perennial sunflowers provide food for songbirds.

In Quebec, says Hamel, the proof that biodiversity is thriving in the ROWs is not what he sees but what he hears.

“I remember riding my bike along the transmission lines,” he says, “I would hear the hum of the electric wire, but instead, now, I hear crickets.”

Scrolling photos courtesy of Toronto and Region Conservation Authority and Pla2na/ Shutterstock.