Safe Passage

The I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project

elk

Spring signals a time for elk movement in the mountains

Elk 30216 and her calves throughout the years. During Safe Passage’s road ecology research in the Pigeon River Gorge, GPS collars revealed multiple years of one mother elk’s journey to and from her calving area.

While the elk population in and around Great Smoky Mountains National Park does not migrate, they do make some relatively longer seasonal movements. In these spring months, pregnant females will move away from their herd to give birth in isolated areas. Cows usually carry one calf and give birth in late May through June. In late summer when the calf is large enough, the pair will rejoin their herd, just in time for the rut (mating season) that occurs in late September through early October.

During our road ecology research in the Pigeon River Gorge, elk monitoring with GPS collars revealed multiple years of one elk’s journey to access her calving area. In both years of monitoring, she left the Cataloochee Valley in early spring and crossed the interstate to access her calving area north of the roadway.

In late summer, the cow and her calf would begin their journey back to the park, again having to navigate crossing I-40. In the two years of monitoring, this elk crossed I-40 107 times, with the majority of those crossings occurring at the Tennessee–North Carolina state border, where the Appalachian Trail crosses under the interstate via a road bridge, and also across a road surface just north of that area. 

In the map to the right, you can see her many crossings throughout the years — which she made both with and without her calves in tow, depending on the time of year. Each dot on the map represents the hourly location of this particular elk, Elk 30216.

— Liz Hillard, Safe Passage Co-Research Lead

Safe Passage research revealed the annual journey of one female elk, including 107 trips across I-40. Click the image to enlarge.

Safe Passage facilitator Jeff Hunter looks back on five years of progress since coalition’s beginnings

Jeff Hunter deploys a wildlife camera just outside the boundaries of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2017.

This week marks five years since the first meeting of stakeholders to discuss what has evolved into Safe Passage: The I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project. In early February 2017, more than 20 representatives from federal, state and nongovernmental organizations gathered in the Asheville office of Defenders of Wildlife to discuss elk and their habitat selection preferences. In translation: As elk expand into new territory, what types of habitat are they likely to move into?

All this was being driven by the Pisgah National Forest’s 12-Mile Project, which among other things, seeks to expand wildlife habitat in the Pigeon River Gorge. Several of us — including Hugh Irwin from The Wilderness Society and Kim DeLozier, then of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation — were concerned that elk could wind up in the highway if we didn’t consider their response to proposed logging in the area.

A rich and impassioned conversation went back and forth, with representatives from agencies like the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service (Pisgah National Forest), Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission offering their thoughts. Conversation over lunch was especially productive. As that initial meeting concluded, we agreed to explore the issue of wildlife-vehicle collisions on Interstate 40 together.

That led to a September 2017 meeting in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, where road ecologist Tony Clevenger, PhD, came to speak with the group and attend a field trip. Clevenger made it clear that we needed to conduct research to understand the extent of the problem.

Fast forward to October 2018, and we were back in Maggie Valley attending a two-day Wildlife Crossing Workshop facilitated by the Federal Highways Administration.

Just a couple months later, Wildlands Network and National Parks Conservation Association began an extensive two-year research project along a 28-mile stretch of I-40.

So, here we are in February 2022. The results of our research are in the final stages of analysis. In March 2022, stakeholders will once again gather to learn about the results and start to prioritize focal areas within our study area.

An elk is caught on camera passing through the Pigeon River Gorge. The migration of elk into new territory, including areas around Interstate 40, is what prompted the very first meeting of what would later become Safe Passage: The I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project.

“Several of us were concerned that elk could wind up in the highway if we didn’t consider their response to proposed logging in the area.”

Interstate 40 in the Pigeon River Gorge cuts through the habitat of Smokies wildlife, including elk and black bears.

Yes, it’s an exciting time for wildlife — as we’re on the cusp of addressing what seemed like an intractable issue just five years ago!

I hope you’ll consider taking the Safe Passage pledge and perhaps donate to the Safe Passage Fund. Together, we can and will make a difference.

Jeff Hunter is a Senior Program manager with National Parks Conservation Association. He serves as the facilitator of the Safe Passage: I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project.