skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Monday, March 18, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Wildlife Crossings Reduce Collisions, Impact of Roads in Natural Areas

play audio
Play

Thursday, June 3, 2021   

Charleston, W.Va. - Wildlife crossings such as green bridges or other structures that allow animals to cross roadways safely have been shown to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Lawmakers, including Sen. Shelley Moore Capito - R-WV, have allocated $350 million toward a pilot wildlife-crossings program as part of the recently unveiled Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act.

Mike Leahy, director of wildlife hunting and fishing policy with the National Wildlife Federation, said West Virginia consistently ranks as one of the top states for collisions between wildlife and vehicles.

He said most of the funding will be used to support projects in rural areas.

"Wildlife crossings and other strategies like underpasses and fencing," said Leahy, "proven really good for keeping wildlife populations moving."

According to the Federal Highway Administration, the total cost of damages from wildlife-vehicle collisions is estimated to be more than $8 billion dollars each year.

The bill, which also authorizes more than $300 billion for upgrades to highways, roads and bridges nationwide, currently sits with the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Transportation Infrastructure.

Leahy said West Virginia's rich outdoor heritage and hunting and fishing economy depend on habitat connections that wildlife crossings ensure aren't lost to road development.

"The infrastructure bill includes funding for research, on how to reduce those collisions and what the best methods and tools are," said Leahy. "It includes training for workers on how to build the projects that reduce those collisions."

West Virginia's outdoor recreation industry generates more than $3 billion annually and contributes to more than 91,000 jobs.




Disclosure: National Wildlife Federation contributes to our fund for reporting on Climate Change/Air Quality, Endangered Species & Wildlife, Energy Policy, Environment, Public Lands/Wilderness, Salmon Recovery, Water. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Corporate partners sign contracts to offer a graduate assistantship and pay the students. In turn, MSU pays the graduate assistant's tuition, fees and salary, so the assistantship is directly tied to the academic experience. (pressmaster/Adobe Stock)

play sound

By Victoria Lim for WorkingNation.Broadcast version by Farah Siddiqi for Missouri News Service reporting for the WorkingNation-Public News Service Col…


Social Issues

play sound

A new report brands Connecticut's tax system as "regressive" for low- to middle-income residents and uses a report from the state to make its point…

Environment

play sound

Backers of a new federal rule said it will increase fairness for livestock and poultry producers, in North Carolina and across the country. The U.S…


A study by the advocacy group Inseparable showed one in five adults said at any given time, they consider their mental health to be either 'fair' or 'poor.' (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Mental health care advocates are encouraging federal agencies to adopt a proposed update to regulations which would expand access to psychological car…

Social Issues

play sound

With hotter summers bringing hotter working conditions, the Maryland Department of Labor is implementing a heat stress standard to protect workers …

Social Issues

play sound

By Jimmy Cloutier for OpenSecrets.Broadcast version by Roz Brown for Texas News Service reporting for the OpenSecrets-Public News Service Collaboratio…

Social Issues

play sound

Women are treated much differently than men by the criminal justice system, according to a new report detailing how and why mass incarceration is …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021