https://www.hcn.org/articles/for-wildlife-a-new-bridge-to-nowhere/
"Every fall and winter, elk meander their way down from Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene
Mountains and congregate in the Silver Valley near Interstate 90. Sometimes
they try to cross the four-lane freeway, walking, leaping or sprinting through
the stream of cars and trucks. But those interactions rarely end well for the
elk or the drivers.
Now, however, there’s new hope for the animals and motorists passing through
Silver Valley. Passionate locals have rallied to transform a defunct bridge in
the small town of Osburn into a wildlife overpass.
Collisions between motorists and wildlife kill more than 350 million animals
and 200 humans and injure more than 26,000 people in the U.S. every year. They
are also expensive, costing over $8 billion in property damage annually.
But wildlife crossings aren’t cheap, either, especially if they’re built from
scratch. According to the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, overpasses
can run between $1 million and $7 million depending on their size and the
surrounding terrain. Idaho’s first wildlife overpass, built near Boise at
Cervidae Peak in 2023, cost $6.5 million.
By comparison, the Osburn bridge project came to about $645,000, with the
primary cost going to fencing to funnel the wildlife toward the bridge. It’s
common knowledge that elk, whitetail deer, coyotes and even moose cross the
freeway near the bridge.
Community members use a Facebook group as a way to alert each other whenever
there are animals on or near the section of freeway that runs through Osburn.
Laura Wolf, a regional wildlife biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and
Game, noted that the stretch of I-90 where the overpass is located has the
second-highest density of roadkill between Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and the
Montana border.
“I-90 is such a barrier for wildlife in the region,” said Eric Greenwell,
senior connectivity specialist at the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation
Initiative, a conservation group. “It’s one of our priority freeways.”
The wildlife crossing was the brainchild of Osburn resident Carl Wilson, a
long-haul trucker, avid outdoorsman and longtime supporter of the Rocky
Mountain Elk Foundation. About a decade ago, Wilson began to wonder whether the
dead-end bridge at the edge of town could be repurposed to help wildlife cross
the freeway."
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/what-were-reading-resistance-to-book-bans-freedom-to-read/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
