1. Oregon Wildlife Habitat Connectivity: A National Perspective Sandra Jacobson USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station Redwood Sciences Lab Arcata CA

2. Oregon Wildlife Habitat Connectivity: A National Perspective Sandra Jacobson USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station Redwood Sciences Lab Bend, Oregon

3. This agent is unique  It kills outright  It removes habitat and replaces it with expanses of barren surfaces  It slices habitat by creating a barrier to movement  It’s noisy and carries frequently noisy people into remote habitat  It creates noxious fumes and salts

4. The Challenges Public roads in the US number 4 million miles, excluding FS administrative roads The Interstate Highway system celebrated its 50 th anniversary in June 2006 The first speed limit was in 1924….at 35 mph Stoner published the first article about the effects of roads on wildlife in 1936 Vehicle miles have increased to 3,000,000,000,000 in 2004

5. Habitat connectivity threats Loss of habitat/fragmentation Pollution Direct mortality Human disturbance Noise Invasive species Unnatural or novel ecological processes

6. What do all these things have in common? ROADS

7. Transportation is the Common Link Follows or precedes development Follows or precedes development Development on private lands precedes increase in highway development on public lands Development on private lands precedes increase in highway development on public lands Usually roads are irreversible and irretrievable Usually roads are irreversible and irretrievable Volume of traffic predicts impacts to wildlife Volume of traffic predicts impacts to wildlife Photo USDA Forest Service: Dave Herr

8. Highway Railroad Another railroad Powerline Dam McArthur Lake Wildlife Corridor

9. Safety! Roads on or near public lands are typically rural 24-35% of all crashes on rural roads are related to animal collisions Rate of crashes on rural roads is much higher than on high volume roads

10. How can we integrate our disparate agency missions and opportunities? Statewide habitat connectivity plans have grass roots origin Statewide habitat connectivity plans have grass roots origin State Wildlife Action Plans provide a common base State Wildlife Action Plans provide a common base Now, SAFETEA-LU provides additional framework through Section 6001 Now, SAFETEA-LU provides additional framework through Section 6001  Identification of mitigation opportunities All together: a historic opportunity to integrate transportation and ecological planning All together: a historic opportunity to integrate transportation and ecological planning

11. Statewide Habitat Connectivity/Transportation Planning No agency has statewide habitat connectivity as part of its mission Simple in concept: gather key people well-distributed among organizations, give them basic common understanding, allow them to agree on a plan

12. Major Benefits of Statewide Connectivity Planning Agencies identify and agree on priorities Greater overall knowledge allows agencies to be ‘on the same page’ Allows overlapping mission accomplishment Increases predictability, therefore reduces suspicion Urgent situations can be identified and input into planning process Partially fulfills requirement to identify mitigation opportunities

13. Florida Efficient Transportation Decision Making (ETDM) Meets intent of SAFETEA-LU Section 6001 (“play and plan well together”) Several years in the making Several million dollars Used now for all kinds of planning Pellicer Creek Land Bridge over I-95 (35,000 Average Annual Daily Traffic)

14. California One of earliest statewide connectivity efforts, mostly led by NGO’s Not limited to roads California is big, diverse AND has very powerful counties Most effective in Southern California Sierra County Highway 89 Stewardship Team

15. New Mexico One of the simplest and fastest statewide plans Identified and prioritized linkages in two days Limited to larger species Highly praised by participants because of interagency collaboration

17. Colorado NGO led: Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project FHWA 2006 Exemplary Ecosystem Award Complex approach included modeling and expert opinion

19. Arizona Nice combination of complexity and speed Interagency workshop for most people was one day but lots of additional intensive work Software now available Tonto National Forest

20. Other states Utah Vermont Idaho Montana Idaho Panhandle National Forests

21. Oregon! One of the first states to use its State Wildlife Action Plan Using the methods shown to work well in several states You are making history! Photo: USFS Don Virgovic

22. Transportation planning is the best hope for an “Ecological Infrastructure” Analogous to the “Built Infrastructure” and understood by the DOT’s Transportation planning is continuous across all jurisdictions Highly standardized across the country Now required by law to coordinate with land management agencies Mitigation of environmental impacts is growing in acceptance The closest thing we have to a national strategy for connectivity planning is the State Action Plans combined with SAFETEA-LU’s Section 6001 The closest thing we have to a national strategy for connectivity planning is the State Action Plans combined with SAFETEA-LU’s Section 6001