This overpass wildlife crossing and others like it on Colorado State Highway 9 between Kremmling and Silverthorne has helped reduce wildlife/vehicle collisions in the area by 90% since the crossings were built in 2015 and 2016. Other similar projects are happening elsewhere in the state.
This overpass wildlife crossing and others like it on Colorado State Highway 9 between Kremmling and Silverthorne has helped reduce wildlife/vehicle collisions in the area by 90% since the crossings were built in 2015 and 2016. Other similar projects are happening elsewhere in the state.
How can we heal a divided America? According to the May 31 issue of The New York Times, highway wildlife crossings may be part of the answer. Regardless of party affiliation or political ideology, it seems that all Americans like wildlife crossings that protect animals from vehicles (and vice versa). That certainly makes sense to me.
Right here in Colorado, we certainly love our wildlife. Some of us are hunters, some of us are photographers, and some of us simply like to enjoy looking at wild animals on the landscape. I think most everyone in our state would agree that our wildlife is a precious resource.
And yet, protecting wildlife populations is not easy in our growing state. According to census data, that state’s population was 2,889,964 when I first became a Colorado resident in 1980. By 2020, the population had reached 5,773,714, slightly more than double the 1980 figure. Alarmingly, at least to me, the Colorado State Demography Office estimates that the state’s population will reach nearly 7.9 million by 2050. It will be a real challenge for wildlife and humans to easily coexist in Colorado if the state reaches that 2050 population estimate.
Fortunately, our state has already demonstrated some real creativity in allowing wildlife and a growing human population to live together in harmony. This fact was clearly demonstrated during a recent drive along beautiful Highway 9 between Silverthorne and Kremmling. Over an approximately 10-mile stretch of road extending from Green Mountain Reservoir to just south of Kremmling, five wildlife underpasses and two wildlife overpasses were completed in 2015 and 2016. The animals were so pleased by the arrival of these structures that they began using them before they were fully finished.
Why this location? Partly because the need was great. This area is intensively used by mule deer as winter range. Another factor was the number of motor vehicle accidents in this area involving wildlife. Finally, a great coalition of funding partners came together to allow this project to happen. These partners included the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), Colorado Parks & Wildlife (CPW), and Grand County. The project also benefited from the fact that Highway 9 passes through the 25,000 acre Blue Valley Ranch owned by billionaire hedge fund manager and philanthropist Paul T. Jones II. He generously contributed approximately $5 million to the endeavor.
The results of this work are hugely impressive. According to CPW wildlife biologist Michelle Cowardin, a key partner in the monitoring study that documented animal usage of these structures, there were 112,678 successful mule deer passages over the five years covered by the study. In addition, 16 other animal species were documented using the overpasses and underpasses. At the same time, there was a 90% reduction in wildlife/vehicle collisions in this area. (For some very impressive wildlife camera photos, go to cpw.state.cop.us/hwy9.)
Luckily, the work doesn’t stop with Highway 9. Other similar projects are happening around Colorado. Jon Holst of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership in Durango also pointed me to a 2019 CDOT report called the “Western Slope Wildlife Prioritization Study.” This report makes recommendations about other locations on the Western Slope that would benefit from building structures that would protect both wildlife and vehicle drivers.
Unfortunately, as with many good ideas, constructing these wildlife structures is not cheap. Michelle Cowardin reports that the wildlife components of the Highway 9 project added up to $15 million. The previously mentioned New York Times article states that a wildlife overpass across a four-lane highway can cost from $5-10 million. Underpasses are cheaper, but can still cost a few hundred thousand dollars or more. Thankfully, that same article points out that a bipartisan transportation bill currently being considered by the Senate currently includes $350 million for wildlife crossings and corridors. Let’s hope it passes.
Colorado faces numerous challenges resulting from projected population growth, but the state is lucky to have many smart people with creative ideas for addressing those challenges. Hopefully a combination of increasingly available public money and private philanthropy such as Paul T. Jones II’s gracious support of the Highway 9 project will give Colorado greater capacity to protect both wildlife and drivers on the state’s increasingly busy highways. In so doing, perhaps we can find something that Coloradans and Americans of all political stripes can unify behind. That should be a comforting thought to all of us in our currently unsettled nation.
Bruce Noble retired after a 33-year career with the National Park Service. He was most recently the superintendent for Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and Curecanti National Recreation Area near Gunnison. He lives in Grand Junction.
