More than 800,000 acres of roadsides associated with Texas highways are vegetated. Most of these acres will be under vegetation management level 2 (as described in ). These rights of way include all ecological regions of Texas and represent a cross-section of the state’s varying landscapes. They range from humid prairies and forests in the southeast and east to desert shrub, grassland and forests in the mountainous region of west Texas.

These landscapes support more than 900 species of wildlife and about 5,500 species of vascular plants including 2,000 different wildflowers. Because roadsides within these landscapes provide habitat for a wide variety of plants and wildlife, they are vital to their continued existence.

This section explains why the rich natural resource heritage found along roadsides should be conserved and managed as a part of the Texas highway system.