Photo credit: Reno SommerhalderBanff National Park, Alberta NCHRP Update: Evaluation of the Use and Effectiveness of Wildlife Crossings in North America Patricia Cramer & John Bissonette USGS – Utah Coop Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Utah State University

Objectives Research Tasks Research Results Decision Guide Outline of Presentation

To understand and communicate ways to *increase the permeability of the roaded landscape for wildlife *to reduce animal-vehicle collisions and overall road associated death of wildlife NCHRP Objective Photographer unknown

Decision Guide for Mitigating Roads for Wildlife NCHRP Final Product

Photo credit: R. Sommerhalder Yoho National Park, Trans Canada Highway Research Team of 9 Ecologists and Engineers P.I. John Bissonette, PhD Patricia Cramer, PhD Keith Knapp, PhD, PE Nancy Newhouse Bhagwant Persaud, PhD, M Eng Trevor Kinley Craig Lyon, MSSc, M Eng Anthony Clevenger, PhD Sandra Jacobson, MS NCHRP Wildlife NCHRP Wildlife Crossings Research Tasks

Evaluation of the Use and Effectiveness of Wildlife Crossings Telephone survey Priorities Safety Modeling Allometric Scaling Accuracy Modeling Small Mammal Research Decision Guide Research Tasks Crash- Carcass Modeling NCHRP 25-27

Safety Modeling 1) Statistically based analysis of animal-vehicle collisions help to reduce the 'noise' in the data, leading to more informed decision making 2) Traffic volume is the most significant predictor of crashes in commonly available databases Bhagwant Persuad, Craig Lyon, Keith Knapp Research Results

Crash and Carcass Magnitude and Pattern Comparison Reported carcass and crash data give different mapping results Keith Knapp, Bhagwant Persaud, Craig Lyon Research Results Photo credit: S. Zahner, Caltrans

Accuracy Modeling Spatially accurate carcass data (within 3 m) shows different results than data to nearest mile marker Anthony Clevenger A. Hardy, M. Huijser, K. Gunson, B. Chruszcz Photo credit: P. Poszig Wolf on Highway 93 Kootenay National Park, Alberta Research Results

600 + Terrestrial Passages 10,000 + Aquatic Wildlife Crossings Patricia Cramer, Nancy Newhouse Research Results

Photo credit. S. Rosa Elk using underpass, Utah Effectiveness of Crossings Review of 25+ studies finds *All 70 crossings monitored passed wildlife Patricia Cramer Research Results

Number One Priority Incorporate wildlife mitigation needs early in the transportation planning process Photo credit: R. Sommerhalder Banff National Park, Alberta

The 7 Major Steps to Creating Wildlife Passages Consideration – ecological & safety reasons Selection – the types of mitigation measures Configuration – dimensions, materials Placement – where on the landscape & road Monitoring and Evaluation Maintenance – upkeep in perpetuity Final Plan and Continued Care – it never ends Decision Guide

Pictures & plans List of all crossings Safety Models Annotated Literature Review, papers, reports Spatial Accuracy Models Carcass-Crash Data Analyses Models Method to scale crossing placements to species size & home range Links to important websites, documents, & people Decision Guide wildlife mitigation Decision Guide Resources Available

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