In Colorado, a wildlife bridge that spans six highway lanes opened in December and is now the largest in North America. In Idaho, deer and elk are already using the state’s first highway overpass built for animals.
Dozens of new bridges and tunnels are helping wildlife cross busy roads. Research shows they can dramatically reduce collisions between vehicles and animals.
Over 5,000 wildlife-vehicle collisions are reported to law enforcement in the state each year, costing $80 million annually in accident response and cleanup, medical expenses and the value of wildlife loss in the collisions. But many more crashes go unreported. One project in northern Colorado, a series of overpasses and tunnels, was found to have cut wildlife-vehicle crashes by 92% in its first five years.
After gaining momentum in recent years, some states are now looking for ways to build more of these bridges and tunnels.
“The question isn't whether this works – it's how do we do more of it,” said Colorado state Sen. Dylan Roberts, a co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill to fund additional crossings, during a committee hearing.
The proposal would add an optional $5 fee to vehicle registrations and renewals, unless drivers opt out. A similar measure with a mandatory fee failed last year. The current bill has cleared two Senate committees and could raise about $4 million annually.
Much of the recent progress traces back to federal funding. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act created a wildlife crossings grant program that has supported projects across the region. At the same time, several states committed large amounts of state funding during the pandemic, when budgets were stronger. That financial picture has changed.
“Groups working on this issue are having to come up with creative ideas right now,” said Nic Callero with The Pew Charitable Trusts. “General fund appropriations are, in most states in the West, extremely tight right now.”
Still, in Utah, lawmakers this year passed a bill creating the state’s first dedicated wildlife crossing account, funded with $2 million annually from the Department of Transportation budget. The law also allows residents to contribute voluntarily when registering vehicles or purchasing hunting and fishing licenses.
That builds on the state’s one-time $20 million investment in 2023. Callero said the new annual funding gives the state more certainty to plan future projects.
New funding streams could also help states position themselves to compete for remaining federal money before the grant program expires later this year. Wildlife crossings can cost millions of dollars.
In Idaho, where the issue has been politically contentious, lawmakers this year passed a nonbinding resolution supporting wildlife crossings. In Wyoming and Montana, specialty license plates are helping to generate funding for the projects. Meanwhile, New Mexico lawmakers set aside $50 million last year to fund wildlife crossings in the highest priority areas.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between KUNR, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio, KJZZ in Arizona and NPR, with additional support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
