Description: Resource Conservation Areas (RCA) serve a highway purpose. They preserve valuable, adjacent scenic lands and buffer adjacent land uses. Highways should not only blend with our natural, social, and cultural environment, but also provide pleasure and satisfaction in their use, according to the Highway Beautification Act. These areas are to be protected during highway construction and then in perpetuity. It is FHWA and WSDOT policy that impacts to these areas be avoided. These areas are often delineated on right of way (ROW) plan sheets or real estate maps as "Beautification Areas", "Landscape Areas", or "Environmental Commitment Areas". Note: It is also possible for these areas to be missing from superseding plan sheets. However, the protection of these areas remains a requirement unless proper mitigation procedures are followed. Questions about WSDOT Resource Conservation Areas should be sent to the WSDOT Region Landscape Architect or Headquarters Roadside and Site Development Office. These polygons were delineated from georeferenced ROW or real estate maps. They are for planning purposes only. WSDOT Environmental Services updated this data July 2026.
Copyright Text: WSDOT Geometrix Office and the WSDOT Property Management & Relocation Program