In an era where mowing the roadside fescue is getting more expensive with the rise in petroleum prices and where air and water quality continue to gain importance, changing the roadside maintenance practices can lead to significant, positive, changes.  Reduced mowing to just critical areas for operation (clear zone and sight distance at intersections)can lead to great savings in the maintenace cost of highways.  However, to make this happen, state DOTs can not simply let things grow wild.   Roadside managers need to learn how to properly establish native plants and what those plants are.  The use of these native plants can help control runoff, filtering water contaminated by roadside materials in the process.  The reduced mowing also leads to reduced emissions by not using mowers during times of high ozone levels.  These seed mixtures and establishment practices can aid roadside managers in an area where many are not typically trained.