RoadWatchBC: Citizen Science Supports Solutions - I’ve been a wildlife advocate all my life; I am passionate about changing the way humans relate to other species. In BC there are ~25,000 or more animals killed every year on the roads, and those are just the ones that are big enough to be reported. That is not okay with me, and I presume it is not okay with you. - I’m going to tell you about a citizen science project. Why? Because I want to convince you that citizen science is useful and valuable, and so are conservation organizations.

The Place: Southern Rocky Mountains, British Columbia (north of the US Northern Rockies)

All the pre-contact species, except caribou Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

The Problem: Landscape-level fracture zone Towns, roads, railroad, recreation Highway 3: 9,000 vehicle trips/day Some Underlying Problem(s): Inadequate data Agency and stakeholder silos Public disengagement Existing datasets may be under-reporting Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions by up to 75%

The partnership Workshop in 2008, report in 2010, Next Steps workshop Priority: learn where the corridors and crash zones are: What lands to conserve Where and how to mitigate for connectivity Overlaps of these Complement BC Ministry of Transportation roadkill data, understand crossing success: “Dead or Alive”

Program Goals: 1. Improve safe passage of wildlife and motorists along highways in the Elk Valley; and 2. Foster a community of concerned citizens that are knowledgeable and committed to developing solutions to advance highway safety for wildlife and people. Important to engage people in being part of the solution: from regrettable inevitability to solvable social challenge Advocacy strategy: engaged people take action and encourage change

  A real app, GPS –based, captures data where you input it, whether or not you are in range Web-based tool if you are driving alone, you can input data later See-it-log-it, and/or drive regular transect

Here are some common

So far, so good! Three-year project, launched in June 2016 Film showings, presentations to service clubs, local governments, organizations Also supported by Teck Coal, large operation in the valley and large workforce, safety and goodwill Target is 150 participants during three-year time frame, in first nine months (June-Feb) we’ve got 79 724 sightings logged so far Less luck with transects but will have summer student

The Future More emphasis on building social capital among participants (BBQs, gatherings) Building out in other regions: Northern BC (2018): resource roads and highways Northern Idaho (Idaho Fish & Game six-month pilot underway) Other highways in southeast BC Lots of interest including internationally

Thank you! www.roadwatchbc.ca www.y2y.net