Montana now has some dedicated funding to support wildlife crossing efforts . . .
Montana has taken a major step toward protecting both wildlife and drivers with the passage of two groundbreaking pieces of legislation this spring: House Bill 855 and House Bill 932. Together, the bills establish the state’s first dedicated funding streams for wildlife crossings, structures proven to reduce collisions and improve landscape connectivity.
Montana currently has the second-highest per capita rate of wildlife-vehicle collisions in the United States. The average driver faces a 1 in 53 chance of hitting an animal each year and 13 percent of total reported collisions in the state related to wildlife, according to the Montana Department of Transportation. These crashes pose serious risks to people and animals alike, and cost Montanans tens of millions of dollars annually.
Kylie Paul, road ecologist at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, a nonprofit creating strategies to solve large-scale challenges like climate change and habitat fragmentation, told Mountain Journal the nonprofit supported the legislation.
“In Montana, we have a lot of roads cutting through intact wildlife habitats and migration routes,” Paul said. “Many are high-speed, low-light and, to some level, still low-traffic highways which help animals still feel safe to move across them.”
