Patricia Cramer & John Bissonette

1. NCHRP 25-27 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 Photo credit: Reno Sommerhalder Banff National Park, Alberta

2. Research Tasks Objectives Research Results Decision Guide Outline of Presentation

3. NCHRP 25-27 Objective Photographer unknown 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

4. NCHRP 25-27 Final Product www.wildlifeandroads.org Decision Guide for Mitigating Roads for Wildlife

5. Yoho National Park, Trans Canada Highway Photo credit: R. Sommerhalder Research Tasks NCHRP 25-27 Wildlife Crossings 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

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

7. Safety Modeling Research Results Bhagwant Persuad, Craig Lyon, Keith Knapp 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

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

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

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

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

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

13. Decision Guide www.wildlifeandroads.org 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

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

16. Photo courtesy of Kevin Morgan, AZG&F In Summary Visit us at www.wildlifeandroads.org