Wildlife crossings and migration corridors

[MT_Chad]

As a civil engineer working in the transportation space and an avid hunter/conservationist, I have been really passionate about this work.
I've seen talk lately about the 350 million in the Infrastructure bill aimed at wildlife crossings, so I thought I'd share a very well made video about these crossings in Nevada. Nevada and Wyoming have been doing great work in this space recently. I met a few of the folks in the video at a conference last year.

 

[Big Fin]

Excellent video showing ways we can do more for wildlife.

 

[MTTW]

That is a good video. I saw some of these crossings in Nevada last winter and would love to see more of this in Montana. They should be mandatory on known migration routs.

 

[beginnerhunter]

Anything to help migrating wildlife, especially mule deer. Being from the east I didn't understand the purpose of these crossings until I learned that animals in the west follow known routes. It really isn't something most of us think about since our deer don't really migrate.

 

[Huntin' Fool]

https://idfg.idaho.gov/sites/default/files/plan-draft-actionplan.pdf

Idaho F&G has a plan too.

 

[rtraverdavis]

Great video. Oregon just allocated $7 million for wildlife crossings last year—a good start. Lots and lots of work to be done.

 

[MT_Chad]

That is a good video. I saw some of these crossings in Nevada last winter and would love to see more of this in Montana. They should be mandatory on known migration routs.

Agreed, Montana could do a lot more of this. I may not have seen it, but I'm not aware of anything going on at FWP to try to get these in the works. I left the DOT a few years ago, at that time there was little interest in these wildlife structures unfortunately. That was mostly due to funding availability and the added maintenance of new owned structures.
Hopefully this dedicated funding sets things in motion. These structures really demand good inter-agency teamwork and a strong environmental division at the DOT, since it's a wildlife benefit that is owned by the DOT. Anybody that has worked for a government agency knows how well they work together. Historically, nobody really wants to pay for or manage these structures. Hopefully this funding will help.

 

[Wildabeest]

UDOT keeps a trail cam on the I-80 wildlife bridge at Parleys Summit. Here’s a compilation video they posted on YouTube. Pretty cool to see the variety of critters that use it.

 

[MT_Chad]

Great video. Oregon just allocated $7 million for wildlife crossings last year—a good start. Lots and lots of work to be done.

Unfortunately, between the planning to determine proper location, engineering, and construction costs, that 7 million might build 2 locations, at most 3 if they are really cost effective. Construction costs have gone through the roof the last few years in the heavy highway industry, much like everything else.

 

[BrentD]

As a civil engineer working in the transportation space and an avid hunter/conservationist, I have been really passionate about this work.
I've seen talk lately about the 350 million in the Infrastructure bill aimed at wildlife crossings, so I thought I'd share a very well made video about these crossings in Nevada. Nevada and Wyoming have been doing great work in this space recently. I met a few of the folks in the video at a conference last year.

Nice!

I have a couple papers on the issue here in Iowa (albeit back in the dark ages). We found pretty interesting patterns, if not exactly surprising.

 

[MT_Chad]

Big shout out to Marcus for sharing this video on Fridays fresh tracks weekly!

 

[hank4elk]

There was a bill for crossings I believe passed but no idea of where the crossings would be.