The East Side Road Authority (ESRA) has undertaken the construction of an all-season road on the east side of Lake Winnipeg to improve connections to remote east side communities. Scatliff+Miller+Murray's (S+M+M) work in helping ESRA meet its environmentally regulated native plant revegetation objectives has created an industry for Landscape Architecture in Northern areas by combining the agri-business science with native plant ecology into significant land development planning.
Major accomplishments and innovations realized under the ESRA initiative include implementing performance specifications based on proven planting scientific methodologies and planting establishment criteria, development of topsoil salvage and weed control implementation into common construction specifications, expanding northern seed supply that had previously not existed, and training various groups in a wide variety of revegetation practices. The horizon is now open to expand the market for future Northern infrastructure projects to meet environmental regulations related to native plant revegetation. As a client, the ESRA must be acknowledged and credited for its leadership and commitment to recognizing that native plant revegetation is an art and a science, and one that must be handled with a rigorous application of scientific knowledge.
