Wyoming wildlife crossing: Concrete problems, concrete solution
The state of Wyoming is making strides towards safer travel for both people and animals. It’ll take a proposed $28 million to accomplish this feat along highway 26 near Dubois with multiple wildlife crossings paired with extensive fencing on the docket.
Much like travelers who come to Grand Teton National Park, the mule deer in the area are also on their summer vacation. Typically, those mule deer spend their winters on the Wind River Indian Reservation just south of the park. Those seem like inconsequential facts until Highway 26 enters the equation. Historically, Highway 26 has been a dangerous road to travel as wildlife collisions are common. “The Yellowstone ecosystem is home to some of North Americas last wildlife migration corridors,” said Scott Christensen who is the executive director of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Human development patterns began to change as people headed West in a young America but now, 200 years or so later, those patterns are turning in all directions. Urban sprawl directly and indirectly effects remote locations, even Wyoming.
“As more and more development occurs, wildlife habitat is being diced up and it’s important that we keep migration corridors intact but we can’t do that if we have a highway in the middle of those,” said Chris McBarnes, The WYldlife Fund President. “We lose over 7,000 big game animals every year in the state due to vehicle collisions. That comes out to be 21 collisions every single day.” Safety is the driving force behind most wildlife crossing projects in the country. However, the economic toll of those crashes can’t be ignored either. Impacting roughly 9 miles of Highway 26 near Dubois, Wyo., this project is estimated to cost $28 million but when human lives are at stake it’s a small price to pay.
AG OPINIONS
The Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation appreciates the idea of keeping motorists safe and protecting wildlife, but, as with many government plans, they will keep an eye on those overseeing the corridor, with hopes that it doesn’t morph into something more intrusive.
“As long as its voluntary, we are comfortable with it, but what concerns us is the possible impact now or in the future to federal land grazing. When federal agencies are involved in a plan, you often see ‘mission creep’ where the idea becomes bigger and more expensive and restrictive to the ag industry,” he said.
“They might have a certain plan right now but in five years they might decide they need to implement restrictions on neighboring private landowners or ranchers with grazing allotments in the area,” he said.
A local retired rancher, Reg Philips, Dubois, said the wildlife corridor isn’t a bad idea, but he hopes there are no federal designations that will impact local livestock producers. “I think identifying the area is fine, but I don’t think having a designation will solve any issues,” said Philips.
BY THE NUMBERS
Many of the big game species are on a steady population decline. A direct result of migration corridor obstacles — highways and other large infrastructure — wildlife need safe ways to cross the state now more than ever before. “These wildlife crossing projects are expensive, so we don’t want to approach them without a strategy backed by extensive research,” McBarnes said. The Wyoming Department of Transportation teamed up with the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to commission a mitigation study with ECO-resolutions on highway 26 to pinpoint stretches of highway where they could make the most impact with wildlife crossing projects. “The study found that between 2015 and 2019, 74 percent of all vehicle crashes from mile marker 48 to 73 were wildlife colliding with vehicles,” McBarnes added. “The annual estimated cost of those collisions was right around $800,000.”
While $28 million is a steep price tag up front, these projects are designed to last long enough to provide a return on investment. “This project is compelling in that it has full state support, and we’ve teamed up with a lot of different partners — the Wind River Tribes, Wyoming Department of Transportation, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, and importantly, private donors — to get this project started,” McBarnes said. “To my knowledge, there has never been a private philanthropy push for a wildlife project in the state of Wyoming that has raised as much as this project has.” Beginning in April, The WYldlife Fund and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition organized a fundraising campaign that now totals $2.7 million. It’s a significant accomplishment as the first step in the process. Now, the team and their partners wait for the Federal Highways Administration to review their application for an estimated $17.5 million in federal funding. But where will the remaining almost $8 million come from?
“The Wyoming Wildlife Resource Trust Fund was established through legislation for conservation efforts in the state,” McBarnes said. “It’s a vital source of funding for large-scale projects like this. It’s certainly a gem in Wyoming, and these projects wouldn’t happen without them.” The state of Wyoming itself along with the Game and Fish Commission will also be contributing funds to the project. McBarnes and Christensen will hear back the first of the year about the federal funding they applied for this fall, in tandem with the Game and Fish Department and Department of Transportation. “The Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program was part of a bill passed by Congress that allocated $350 million specifically for wildlife transportation infrastructure,” Christensen said. “Every wildlife crossing project across the country seeking money from that fund competes through an application process. Creating partnerships across the state was necessary for the project itself but we hope it also strengthens our application as it demonstrates the broad scope of support this project has in Wyoming.”
OVER AND UNDER (PASS)
This won’t be the first, nor the last, wildlife crossing project that McBarnes and Christensen have worked on. Some of those previous projects have reached completion while others are still under construction or just past the fully funded stage. The bulk of these projects have been building both over and underpasses to give wildlife a safe place to cross the highway. Extensive fencing is required to funnel animals to those safe crossings. “Even though they’re expensive to build, the solutions are quite simple: either an overpass which is basically a bridge across the highway or, when it makes sense, an underpass that usually follows a stream,” Christensen explained.
More than just the funding, getting support for these projects involves a wide variety of people. Building a sense of community around a project is what Christensen said is the “secret sauce” to success. “Everyone at the table has to be rowing in the same direction; we have to bring the surrounding community along with us for the project otherwise it won’t get off the ground,” Christensen added. Surrounding landowners can easily derail a project like this one, but that hasn’t been an issue so far. “In this case specifically, the deer spend their winter on the Wind River Indian Reservation, so it’s been crucial to make sure the tribes have a place at the table and a say throughout the process,” Christensen said. “Our partners on the reservation have been huge for this project. They have incredible knowledge about these animals and their migration patterns that goes back millennia. These projects are expensive and time consuming, so everyone has to be totally bought in to move forward.”
While Christensen and McBarnes are both optimistic about the strength of their application for federal funding, they also recognize the possibility of being turned down. “Our plan B is to keep trying, the project partners are committed to seeing this through and so are we,” Christensen said. “If we don’t secure funding this cycle, then we’ll apply during the next one. In the meantime, we’ll do our best to make our application more compelling. That could mean bringing in more partners and possibly securing more funding.” Even though the initial fund-raising campaign has ended, there’s still plenty of opportunities for wildlife enthusiasts to get involved and show their support. “Staying informed of the issue at hand and understanding the facts about the animals we’re losing in these vehicle collisions is a great first step,” McBarnes said. “People can also get involved by advocating for these projects to state and federal authorities. These are common-sense projects that people can stand behind no matter how they choose to enjoy wildlife.” If the timeline continues as planned, and the federal funding comes through, this project is estimated to be completed by 2028. While that seems like a long ways away, that’s actually a fairly efficient use of time for a project of this size. Right now, the proposal includes building up to four underpasses and one overpass along with almost 18-miles of fencing. It’s a feat to be sure, but a worthy one at that. “These crossing projects are so amazing because they are an elegant and effective solution to a concrete problem,” Christensen concluded.
For more information about this and other wildlife crossing projects, visit http://www.wgfd.wyo.ogov, or http://www.thewyldlifefund.org or http://www.greateryellowstone.org.