Yellowstone Safe Passages Releases New Wildlife Assessment for Highway 89
After a lifetime of driving the roads of Park County, I can unfortunately say that I’ve hit wildlife, had wildlife run into me, dodged animals, skidded to a stop, and patiently crept along at 45 mph to avoid all of the above.
It’s an unfortunate reality that 50% of all reported accidents on Highway 89 between Livingston and Gardiner are wildlife-related. That percentage is likely much higher, if we calculated every incident that goes unreported. These collisions take their toll, not only on the wildlife, but on the livelihoods of everyone involved.
In 2020, Daniel Anderson convened area organizations including the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the National Parks Conservation Association, and PCEC to discuss how to address this very issue. The partnership grew to become Yellowstone Safe Passages.
After years of data collection, public outreach, and agency coordination, Yellowstone Safe Passages has just released the US 89 Wildlife and Transportation Assessment.
Authored by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and the Western Transportation Institute, the report combines local and expert knowledge, public data, citizen science, and engineering expertise to identify important areas where wildlife accommodation measures — such as culverts, bridges, underpasses, overpasses, animal detection systems, and fencing — can improve the safety of travelers and wildlife by reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions.
Read the key findings from the report HERE.
You can read the entire report HERE.
Yellowstone Safe Passages will host a series of public presentations on the report in Park County:
COMMUNITY INFORMATION SESSIONS:
ALL MEETINGS WILL BE FROM 6:00 - 8:00 PM
CHICO HOT SPRINGS (THE KNOWLES ROOM), MARCH 28TH
THE GARDINER COMMUNITY CENTER, APRIL 1ST
PARK COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS (EXHIBIT BUILDING), APRIL 4TH
This is a great opportunity to learn more about the report and the potential for solutions. We encourage everyone who is interested in the report and the work that the Yellowstone Safe Passages partnership is doing to attend one of these meetings.
Visit Yellowstone Safe Passages website to learn more and to stay up-to-date.
Yellowstone Safe Passages – Life In the Land Podcast
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Lara Tomov, and participate in her “Life in the Land: Stories for Action” podcast to talk about PCEC’s work with Yellowstone Safe Passages and the issue of wildlife-vehicle collisions on U.S. Highway 89.
This podcast was a pleasure to do, and I think it provides a great overview of the issues we’re dealing with regarding wildlife and roads and more specifically the importance of partnerships like Yellowstone Safe Passages.
You can listen to the Podcast HERE.
This was the first time I’ve done a podcast, and I must say that Lara did a fantastic job leading the interviews and editing it down. Even though it’s two hours in length, it's worth setting aside some time to listen to, even if it’s in short chunks.
If you like the YSP podcast, be sure to check out all the other great work that Lara Tomov has done on the people, places and issues around Montana. In addition to podcasts she has produced some top quality documentary films for her Life in the Land series, with the most recent focusing on the Upper Yellowstone.
Visit the Life in the Land Website
For the wild,
Max