SEATTLE -- The perils of traffic aren't just a human concern. Wildlife advocates say animals need highway crossings to survive.

Mitch Friedman's organization Conservation Northwest was integral in developing a wildlife crossing project on I-90 east of Snoqualmie Pass.

"If we don't provide ways for wildlife to get under or over our roads and highways in the places that they need to cross, then we end up with smashed cars, injured drivers and dead wildlife," Friedman said.

As Congress considers a major transportation bill, Friedman said he's eyeing the Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program. It would provide $250 million in grants over five years to states, tribes and local governments for wildlife infrastructure projects.

Friedman noted these projects also would provide jobs at a time when unemployment numbers are high.

Beth Pratt is regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation in California. She's part of an effort to build the largest wildlife crossing in the world over 10 lanes of Highway 101 in Los Angeles.

But Pratt noted crossings have to do more than get animals across highways.

"No matter what site you're using, the animals have to feel comfortable going over it," Pratt said. "They have to feel comfortable approaching it and they have to feel comfortable, obviously, when they get off it that you're leading them into ground that feels safe."

Pratt said without the LA project and others, species such as cougars face a serious challenge crossing highways.

"At worst, [it] could prove not just deadly for one animal but actually hasten the extinction of local populations of wildlife," she said.

Friedman with Conservation Northwest said he used to worry that wildlife crossings would be controversial.

"The public generally supports these things and I've yet to see a backlash against taxpayer investment in providing wildlife crossings to make our highways safer," he said.

Nevadans will have the opportunity to learn more and weigh in on a proposed public lands rule that shifts the Bureau of Land Management's focus to prioritize wildlife conservation and protecting cultural resources. Tomorrow, the B-L-M invites the public to an in-person meeting
in Reno to better understand the proposal.

Russell Kuhlman, Executive Director for the Nevada Wildlife Federation, said the measure would help the agency put conservation efforts "on par and act as a balance," with recreational and commercial uses of public lands such as grazing, energy development and camping.

"The land is not built for continuous extraction without some conservation in order to make it sustainable, and what this conservation ruling does is hopefully take a big step in that direction," he said.

Kuhlman contended the B-L-M is "getting pulled in a lot of different directions because of the scope of work they're required to do." He says the proposed rule could "open the door," he said, for conservation groups to help out potentially underfunded and understaffed B-L-M offices, and aid in habitat rehabilitation.

Kuhlman added the proposed rule adds "another tool box within the conservation community," and takes what he calls a "proactive, boots on the ground approach," to help prevent further habitat degradation. The agency says if they receive an application for a conservation lease that conflicts with an existing grazing permit or lease, that conservation lease would not be approved. Kuhlman said the proposal
aims to level the playing field for the various uses taking place on public lands.

"There are some questions out there from different stakeholders and what they're concerned about is, is this conservation ruling going to be a tool to eliminate grazing or prevent energy resource development from happening on public lands. And that is not the case. "

Kuhlman says he is "excited" about the conservation ruling. He says it could help mitigate the degradation the sagebrush sea is experiencing. According to the agency roughly one-point-three million acres of sagebrush are degraded annually. In addition to tomorrow's meeting, the B-L-M will also hold a virtual meeting on the proposal on Monday, June 5th.

Critical Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bear habitat has been degraded by a 2019 U.S. Forest Service decision to allow more than 17,000 livestock to graze in Wyoming's Upper Green River Basin, according to a new report.

John Carter, ecologist for the Yellowstone to Uintas Connection and the report's co-author, said 84% of the area is designated as having a wildlife emphasis in the Forest Plan.

"The area that this decision covers places a priority on wildlife," Carter explained. "But what we have in reality is a livestock emphasis, with wildlife way down in the order of priorities, as far as any evidence we've seen."

The Forest Service decided to put cattle in the project area even though it is where more than half of all grizzly deaths in western Wyoming happened between 2010 and 2014. All were due to conflicts with cattle. Grizzlies are classified as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The agency has not yet responded to a request for comment.

The Forest Service is not following the best scientific practices for managing livestock grazing, according to the report, which found a significant decline in the forage plants that should be present. A single adult cow and calf can weigh up to 1,600 pounds, due to added hormones and antibiotics, but Carter pointed out the agency's stocking rate assumes the total weight is just 1,000 pounds.

"When in reality, they weigh double that, and they're consuming double the rate that the Forest Service is claiming when they are calculating a stocking rate," Carter contended. "You've got some very basic fundamentals that are being glossed over in order to perpetuate the status quo."

The Forest Service is supposed to manage publicly-owned resources for long-term sustainability, but Carter argued there has been a gradual decline over time. He added laws passed in the 1960s and 70s to protect watersheds from overgrazing and logging have been weakened by industry lobbyists.

"Basically, you've got a system set up where the industry is essentially in control of the agency," Carter stressed. "It's called 'regulatory capture,' and so the public really is out of the loop here."


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New funding recently added to the Colorado Wildlife Safe Passages Fund could provide relief for mule deer and elk populations, which are on the decline in Colorado, home to several of the largest herds in the U.S.

Tony Cady, Region 5 planning and environmental manager for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said there are an estimated 14,000 wildlife-vehicle collisions each year, at a cost of $80 million to the state's economy. More wildlife are killed through collisions with motorists than during hunting harvests.

"So, it's a problem we need to tackle," Cady contended. "This money will allow us to address wildlife crossings and wildlife vehicle collision mitigation projects in those key corridors around the state where we're seeing the greatest need."

The $500,000 in funding is part of the Colorado state budget recently signed by Gov. Jared Polis. The allotment will be used as the state's local match necessary to leverage federal grants made possible through the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, including $350 million available in the law's Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program.

Colorado has been a national leader in mitigating wildlife-vehicle collisions, and has built 64 crossing structures -- including bridges, culverts or tunnels -- even under tight transportation budgets. Cady pointed to a recently completed project on Highway 9 between Kremmling and Green Mountain Reservoir.

"Over a two-year period we documented several hundred thousand animal movements, and it resulted in a 92% reduction in crashes with wildlife, and a 90% reduction in the carcasses removed," Cady outlined. "They are highly effective."

Cady noted there are hundreds of crossings still needed across the state to restore historic migration corridors, and the Colorado Department of Transportation has prioritized 25 strategic projects it wants to complete within the next decade.

Cady added, given the state's extensive network of highways and roads, animals have to make multiple crossings in their seasonal migrations to access food and shelter.

"And every time they cross the road or have to jump a fence, that creates a hazard to them, and to motorists using the roadways," Cady explained. "Providing these safe passages allows them to connect to those critical habitats, while also providing safety for the traveling public."

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


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