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Safe Passage for Wildlife and People Crashes between motor vehicles and wildlife are a threat to human and wildlife safety, costing Americans more than $8 billion annually along with hundreds of lives lost. Rural communities see some of the highest incidences of wildlife-vehicle collisions, as many of us who live here in Southwest Colorado have witnessed first hand. In fact, the number one cause of crashes in Region 5 for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) (Southwest Colorado) is collisions with wildlife. Along some stretches of US 160 near Durango, roughly 70% of all accidents are due to collisions with wildlife. The statewide average for Colorado is 9% of all accidents. The extremely high level of wildlife accidents in our area allowed CDOT to allocate approximately $800,000 of Hazard Elimination Funds to install a high tech animal detection system designed to warn drivers when animals are close to the highway and may cross. This state of the art system is the first of its kind in Colorado. Other systems exist across the West, but not with the same design as US 160. If the animal detection system proves successful, CDOT will consider installing similarly designed systems along roadways with high wildlife-vehicle collision rates. Click HERE for a link to the Durango Herald Article. In addition to the safety concerns associated with wildlife-vehicle collisions, these collisions incur significant financial costs to drivers and impede wildlife movement. A recent study by the Western Transportation Institute calculated the average per vehicle costs associated with an animal-vehicle collision for three species: $7,890 for deer, $17,100 for elk, and $28,100 for moose. Wildlife crossing structures in combination with wildlife fencing – strategically installed along our nation’s highways – permit deer, elk, bear, Canada lynx, mountain lions and other animals freedom to roam; freedom to move daily and seasonally in search of nourishment and mates; and freedom to disperse across the landscape. In Banff National Park in Canada, a series of 22 underpasses and two overpasses, tied together with fencing, have decreased total road-kill by 80 percent. Monitoring these facilities has documented approximately 100,000 crossings of wildlife using these structures. It is well established that larger wildlife populations are more “viable” or “persistent” than isolated smaller populations, cut off by man made barriers. Incorporating these kinds of wildlife crossings and animal detection systems along our roadways in Southwest Colorado is an important step towards reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions and making our roads safer for the traveling public. National and regional efforts are dovetailing across the West, building momentum and support for this kind of work. Freedom to Roam, an initiative started by Patagonia, is working to protect wildlife corridors and movement areas as a means of building resiliency for wildlife in the face of climate change. The Western Governors recently adopted a suite of policy tools and options to protect wildlife corridors, including transportation related policies to construct wildlife crossings. To learn more about the emerging science of “Road Ecology” and current wildlife corridor initiatives please see links at the bottom of this article. Keep an eye out in Durango for a summer speaker on Road Ecology and a viewing of the film Division Street, a newly released road ecology film. The La Plata County Living with Wildlife Advisory Board will be hosting this film and speaker event in June 2009. In addition to these national efforts, the Colorado Safe Passage Coalition, a member of the Safe Roads Coalition, has been urging the Colorado Department of Transportation to spend at least 1% of the federal economic stimulus funds for transportation on wildlife crossings. Consider contacting Russ George, Executive Director of CDOT to voice your support of spending economic stimulus funds on wildlife crossings to make our rural roads safer: russell.george@dot.state.co.us, 303-757-9201. To utilize the Defenders of The Wildlife web site to send a letter of political support to the Colorado Department of Transportation Click Here. Monique DiGiorgio is the conservation strategist for the Western Environmental Law Center based in Durango, Colorado. She has been working on transportation issues at the local, state, and federal level for the past seven years in Colorado. In Durango, Monique is working with the Safe Roads Coalition to join forces and seek positive changes to our transportation planning and decision-making system. You can reach Monique at digiorgio@westernlaw.org or 970.259.2531. For More Information: Western Transportation Institute: http://www.wti.montana.edu/RoadEcology/Default.aspx Carnivore Safe Passage: http://www.carnivoresafepassage.org/ Defenders of Wildlife Habitat and Highways Program: http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/habitat_conservation/habitat_and_highways/ Freedom to Roam: http://www.patagonia.com/web/us/patagonia.go?assetid=1865 Western Governors’ Wildlife Corridors Initiative: http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/corridors/index.htm |
