In this provided image captured by trail camera, a Rocky Mountain elk uses a wildlife passage beneath U.S. Route 97, near Gilchrist, Ore., on March 23, 2024. The trail cameras monitor the passage, part of the the U.S. South Highway 97 Wildlife Crossing Structure Effectiveness Monitoring Project, operated by Oregon State University-Cascades.
Courtesy of HERS Lab, OSU-Cascades / Courtesy of HERS Lab, OSU-Cascades
A group of 18 organizations say they are one step closer to building four wildlife passages or crossings over Highway 20 in Central Oregon.
As the region’s human population boomed in the last decade, a 35-mile stretch of road between Suttle Lake and Bend had some of the highest rates of deer and elk vehicle collisions in the state from 2010 to 2016, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation.
Oregon passed a law in 2019 meant to increase wildlife road crossings, but lawmakers never created a permanent funding source, even as other Western states have embraced these crossings as a cost-effective way to avoid dangerous vehicle collisions.
A group, called the Bend to Suttle Lake Wildlife Passage Initiative, formed in 2022 to address the issue of wildlife migration across Highway 20 specifically. The group published a feasibility study on July 31 to identify where crossings should be placed along the corridor. The study identified 11 sites where crossings could go, but it prioritized four locations near Black Butte.
“One of the key species that is crossing the road right in front of Black Butte, there, is an elk herd,” said Jeremy Austin, the Wild Lands & Water Program Director of Central Oregon LandWatch.
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The organization wants to raise $562,000 by the end of this year in order to begin phase two of the project — engineering, design and planning.
ODOT would take the lead on that part of the project, overseeing environmental clearances, geotechnical exploration, drilling and engineering design, said ODOT’s wildlife passage coordinator Cidney Bowman.
Wildlife crossings are a priority for ODOT because of the threat collisions pose to drivers and roadway safety. Department data show the average cost of a vehicle collision with a deer in Oregon is $9,000, and $24,000 for a collision with an elk.
One of the key reasons the initiative started was to provide a safe way for animals to cross an increasingly busy roadway, said Rachel Wheat with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
An increase in the human population in Central Oregon has led to more traffic, and, said Wheat, “The more traffic that we see on the highway, the more rates of these wildlife vehicle collisions we’re experiencing.”
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Mule deer and elk move from the foothills of the Cascades to the high desert and back. Their migratory patterns help them reach food, water and places that are safe to reproduce and raise their young, according to Wheat.
“As humans, we have our homes that we live in, but then we also have our workplaces that we have to travel to, and we have to go to the grocery store to get food,” said Wheat, “and you know animals are moving around in the same ways, to access all the things that they need.”
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The four wildlife crossings being eyed near Black Butte would be designed as overpasses, in order to encourage elk to use prefabricated bridges.
The cost to build the four overcrossings is estimated at $50 million, with all funding sources yet to be determined.
Austin said he’s confident the short-term fundraising goals for planning and design will be met. He said the coalition has received support from conservation and wildlife organizations, and they are looking to Oregon lawmakers and the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for help.
Wildlife passages are common in other Western states, Wheat said, but not Oregon
“We are woefully behind,” she said, listing the rough number of wildfires passages in neighboring states: California has around 50 or 60, Washington has between 35 and 50, Utah has 55 to 60, Nevada has several dozen, Montana has 122, Colorado has between 69 and 73 and is building more, she said.
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As for Oregon — “We have five,” she said.
The state passed legislation in 2019 to address wildlife crossings, but never created a permanent funding source.