Idahoans love our wildlife. Many of the species we care so much about use a variety of seasonal habitats and need to be able to move between these ranges safely. Often, we’re afforded the joys of viewing wildlife in these natural patterns from the comfort of our cars, trucks and vans as we travel roads that help us visit Idaho’s vast landscapes. But, these road systems can jeopardize the physical safety of animals and sever critical migration corridors. Our road infrastructure poses serious and ongoing threats to animals that depend on being able to get from one place to another without risk and stress.
The financial toll that wildlife-vehicle encounters on our highways claim is also staggering. Annual economic costs from wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) on Idaho’s highways are estimated to be nearly $150 million. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), WVCs cost the nation over $10 billion annually. Last year, State Farm Insurance alone reported nearly two million claims due to animal collisions, with WVCs causing more than 200 human fatalities and 26,000 injuries.
These all-too-common WVC incidents threaten our precious wildlife resources and are a major safety concern to Idahoans and visitors to our great state. The good news is, we know how to minimize this harm.
For the last few years, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law helped fund highway projects to build overpasses and other structures to make our nation’s roads more wildlife-friendly, especially in the West. Earlier this year, ICL wrote about how the Idaho Department of Transportation was awarded $21 million from the FHWA’s Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program (WCPP) to build three underpasses and fencing on HWY 30 in southeast Idaho. Biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) have identified the spot as a critical crossing area and migration bottleneck in rural Bear Lake County using radio-collar data. The Rocky Point project is scheduled to break ground next year and will restore the ability for some 6,000 animals in the Bear River Plateau Mule Deer herd to move securely between seasonal ranges.
Well-designed infrastructure features that accommodate for the needs of wildlife, such as overpasses, underpasses, and wing fencing can reduce vehicle collisions by up to 90%. Evidence also shows that these vital infrastructure projects pay for themselves.
That’s why it’s so troubling to learn that federal appropriations for the important WCPP conservation and public safety program funding for projects like Rocky Point are now at risk of disappearing. Idaho lags behind almost all western states in prioritizing and long-term planning for wildlife-friendly infrastructure. But, the WCPP could continue to deliver real conservation and economic benefits to Idaho if the pilot program is made to be permanent. This one action would provide the Idaho Department of Transportation, local governments, regional transportation authorities, Tribes, and federal land management agencies with reliable funding for infrastructure needs that support Idaho’s growth, responsibly. It would also help achieve many of the ambitious goals set forth by IDFG to improve habitat connectivity in key areas identified in their State Action Plan.
Funding for WCPP needs to be made permanent. Congress also needs to increase WCPP funding to meet the demands that have been shown in funding requests from all 50 states. In just the first WCPP funding cycle (2022-2023), eligible states requested a total of nearly $550 million—far exceeding the $125 million allocated for that period. Sitting in the “intersection” of conservation value, infrastructure demands and overwhelming public support, the WCPP program couldn’t make a more compelling sales pitch.
Importantly, Idaho’s Congressional delegation can do something to ensure WCPP funding doesn’t go away. That’s why you must speak up THIS WEEK and ask them to take THREE critical steps for the future of the Crossings program:
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- Submit a priority request to make the WCPP program permanent in the upcoming surface transportation reauthorization bill to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
- Propose and authorize increased funding that will allow even more projects to be developed in critical wildlife-vehicle collision hotspots
- Eliminate the program’s cost-share match requirement for Tribal entities
Wildlife-vehicle collisions don’t need to happen nearly as often as they do. We know how to solve many problems connected with roadway systems that carry Idahoans and visitors to the places we love and generate the commerce our state relies on. By making WCPP funding permanent, we can preserve the integrity of critical ecological migrations of iconic western species, while reaping conservation and economic benefits for generations.
Take action by May 31st and tell Idaho’s representatives to protect WCPP funding for wildlife-friendly highways!