Hamlet plant devotes space to Butterfly Highway

A seeded acre underneath transmission lines will soon become a valuable pit-stop for pollinators.

A transmission right-of-way near North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation’s (NCEMC) Hamlet power plant will become a part of the state’s “Butterfly Highway” next spring. Last fall the generation and transmission cooperative prepared a one-acre plot with pollinator-friendly plants native to the state. The project delivers a vegetation management solution that meets both its reliability compliance and environmental stewardship goals.

“The Butterfly Highway is an initiative of the NC Wildlife Federation to support natural pollinators like bees, birds and butterflies,” said Richard McCall, NCEMC director of environmental and transmission compliance.

“We found that devoting a portion of right-of-way to the initiative will support the conservation program while also assisting in vegetation management. The low-growing ground cover will help reduce erosion and requires less frequent mowing.” 

The Butterfly Highway program was previously featured in Carolina Country (“Roadmap to the Butterfly Highway,” November 2016). More information is also available online from the NC Wildlife Federation at butterflyhighway.org.