Giving Birth to

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Giving Birth to Living Snow Fences
Richard Straight USDA National Agroforestry
Center a partnership of the USDA Forest Service
NRCS
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Structural snow fences have a long history of
use
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Giving New Life to Old Snow Fences
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Living Snowfence

• Designed plantings of trees, shrubs and/or native
  grasses planted at critical locations along roads
  or around portions of communities and farmsteads.
• The purpose is to create a vegetative barrier
  that traps and controls blowing and drifting
  snow.

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Blowing Snow on Roadways
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Snow Drifting on Roadways
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(No Transcript)
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Standing Corn in Winter
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Effects of Density on Snow Drifting
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Drift Growth
-15 H
3 H
15 H
0
20 H
30 H
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1 Row East West, proper setbacks from east and
south roads
200
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Problem Drifts
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Problem Drift Fix
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Snow Fence
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Problem Drift Fix
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Nebraska LSF Program

• Program began with a local Natural Resources
  District in the mid 1970s

• County road departments

• State highway departments

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LSF Habitat Program
Costs per Mile Planting Stock 0 Tree
Planting 924 Site Preparation 0 Weed
Control, in row 279 Weed Control, between
row 228 Fence Construction 1,365 Total
/mile 2,796
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Slatted Snow Fence
Costs per mile Material 3,517 Labor 1,995
Equipment 884 Total cost/mi 6,396
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Costs per Mile per Year
Living No Habitat Program 7,114/mi 50 yrs
142 Habitat Program 2,796/mi 50 yrs
56 Slatted 6,396/mi 5 yrs 1,297
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Colorado Interagency Living Snow Fence Program

• Began in 1982
• Involved DOT, DNR, Forest Service, Soil
  Conservation Board, Landowners
• Primarily on state highways

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New York LSF

• Partnership of NYDOT, SWCD, NRCS
• Utilizes willow trees and shrubs
• Fast growth
• Many species and varieties for many different
  site conditions
• Biomass production

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Beneficial Willow Characteristics

• Rapid height growth
• Can reach 15 ft or more in three to four years
• Can be effective in as little as two years
• Maintains good density from the ground to the top
  of the crown
• Once established maintenance is minimal

Measuring optical porosity on a living willow
snowfence in Cortland County, NY
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Iowa Pheasants Forever
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MN ND LSF Programs

• Focuses strongly on snow removal costs
• Winter of 1996-97 was a major impetus
• Utilizes FEMA dollars for disaster prevention

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The Costs of Snow Removal(Minnesota)

• 1992-1995 - State, County Township budgets for
  snow removal averaged
• .113.5 million/year.
• 1996-97 - Winter Season - Snow Removal Costs
  exceeded
• .220 million/year..

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Example Redwood Falls -

• An 8 foot tall row of shrubs
• Planted 544 feet
• Collected over 21 tons of snow per lineal foot or
  over 11,400 tons of snow
• With the cost of snow removal at 3.00 per ton
• This living snow fence saves over 34,000 of snow
  removal expense.

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Benefits

• Snow / Wind Protection to communities, farmsteads
  and roadways.
• Crop Protection Yield Increases
• Rural Beautification
• Wildlife Habitat

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LSF Protecting more than roads.
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Environmental Benefits

• Create bird habitat
• Over 35 species of birds have been found nesting
  or visiting willow biomass crops
• Early source of nectar for bees
• Reduced use of fossil fuels and salt for snow
  removal
• Carbon sequestration above and below ground in
  living hedges

Wood thrush nesting in willow
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Living Snowfence Benefits

• Snowfences reduce snow removal costs by 30 50
• Improved visibility and road conditions
• Safety benefits and additional cost saving by
  reducing accidents
• Reduce road closures and associated costs

Blowing snow creates hazardous conditions and
increases snow removal costs.
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Living Snowfences

• Effectiveness of living snowfences is determined
  by
• Optical porosity
• Height
• Both characteristics are easily manipulated by
  selecting certain species and manipulating spacing

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Living Snowfence Benefits

• Living snowfences should be at the high end of
  the costbenefit ratio range
• Secondary benefits such as wildlife habitat,
  aesthetic appeal, carbon storage

Five year old willow living snowfence in Cortland
County, NY.
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Living Snowfence Benefits

• Economic costbenefit ratio of structural snow
  fences is 12 130
• Costbenefit ratio of living snowfences is 16 to
  180 due to
• reduced installation costs
• lower maintenance costs
• longer lifespan
• greater snow storage capacity

Willow living snowfence established in 1993 in
Cortland County, NY.
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Living Snow Fences
are very Ful-filling

• fill conservation needs

• fill economic needs

• fill environmental needs

• fill safety needs