U.S. 26 wildlife crossings advance in Wyoming with heavy summer traffic | Kiowa County Press

(Wyoming Information Service) Individuals are hitting the highway for summer season trip, and lots of can be headed to Grand Teton and Yellowstone Nationwide Parks through U.S. Freeway 26. 

Daryl Lutz – Lander area wildlife administration coordinator with the Wyoming Recreation and Fish Division – mentioned biologists and Division of Transportation engineers are narrowing in on plans to scale back wildlife car collisions alongside a 35 mile stretch close to Dubois. 

Lutz mentioned state-of-the-art radio World Positioning System collars helped finalize one of the best spots for wildlife crossings.

“Actually tens of hundreds of location datapoints,” mentioned Lutz, “from elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep. That has helped us delineate the place wildlife most often method and/or cross the freeway.”

Wildlife-vehicle collisions alongside this part of Freeway 26 kill as much as 250 animals annually, at a price of greater than $800,000 in property injury, emergency response and cleanup. 

After engineering plans are set – Lutz mentioned they anticipate staff to interrupt floor on one overpass, three underpasses, and modifications to 4 different buildings inside the subsequent 12 months or two.

Tourism and recreation is Wyoming’s second-largest trade, including $1.7 billion to the state’s economic system in 2019. 

Grand Teton Nationwide Park superintendent Chip Jenkins mentioned a big a part of that financial exercise relies on sturdy wildlife populations.

“Individuals coming to see, folks coming to hunt, folks coming to {photograph} wildlife,” mentioned Jenkins. “So, these wildlife migration corridors are completely essential to keep up, not only for the well being of the ecosystem but additionally for serving to to assist the state’s economic system.”

Lutz mentioned whereas overpasses and fencing that separates animals from autos are costly, they allow herds to keep up entry to essential habitat on either side of the highway. He mentioned he believes they’re a very good funding.

“It is anticipated that we’ll have paid for them, given the variety of collisions that occur, and the prices related to these collisions, in about 30 years,” mentioned Lutz. “After which the longevity of these buildings is not less than 75 years.”

Help for this reporting was supplied by The Pew Charitable Trusts.