Safe Passage

The I-40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project

wildlife crossings

Habituation at Harmon Den: Next steps for wildlife after crossing construction

After crossings are constructed, how soon can you expect wildlife to adapt to use new, safer passages?

Though infrastructure has been installed at the Harmon Den bridge in North Carolina (pictured above), more still must be done to attract wildlife to use the safer crossing. 

Progress is being made at the Harmon Den bridge in North Carolina, where our partners at the N.C. Department of Transportation recently constructed infrastructure for wildlife. Since then, we’ve begun some early monitoring of how wildlife are interacting with the new crossings, which include wildlife-friendly benches and cattle guards and will, in the future, include fencing.

Of course, it may take some time for wildlife to habituate to this improved crossing opportunity in the landscape, especially while vegetation in the area is still recovering from the recent construction. To improve success, it’s important that creekside vegetation — like fast-growing tulip popular, black birch, and red maple — continues to reestablish, as it will provide important cover and protection for traveling wildlife. Consideration should also be given, however, to restricting tractor trailer parking along the on- and off-ramps, which — because engines are often left running — creates noise and garbage (including human waste) that may potentially deter wildlife movement toward the new crossings. Another opportunity to encourage wildlife to use the crossings would be to clean up the crushed concrete spill that occurred during bridge construction along the bank of Cold Springs Creek.

Finally, it is important to note that although the opportunistic wildlife improvements at Harmon Den are important for wildlife connectivity and reducing vehicle collisions long-term, there are limitations to combined human–wildlife structures when compared to standalone structures for wildlife only. The Safe Passage Fund Coalition has made several research-based recommendations for standalone wildlife structures north and south of Harmon Den.

— Steve Goodman, Safe Passage Co-Research Lead

Day versus night view from the wildlife crossing at Harmon Den. Trucks parking on the on- and off-ramps can discourage wildlife from making the safe trip under the highway.

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.

North Carolina House includes $5 million for wildlife crossings in 2023/2024 budget

Safe Passage Fund Coalition encourages state senate to appropriate full amount

The Safe Passage Fund Coalition applauds the North Carolina House of Representatives for appropriating $5 million in funding for infrastructure to help reduce wildlife–vehicle collisions across the state. This infrastructure — which includes overpasses, underpasses and fencing along roads and highways — is critical in increasing safety along roadways for wildlife and humans alike. 

“We are so grateful that the House has prioritized funding to reduce wildlife–vehicle collisions on Interstate 40 near the Smokies and elsewhere around North Carolina,” said Jeff Hunter, Southern Appalachian director of National Parks Conservation Association, a Safe Passage Fund Coalition member. “This is a win-win for wildlife and the motoring public. We encourage the Senate to appropriate $5 million in their budget to help leverage federal dollars to address this issue statewide.” 

According to the North Carolina Department of Transportation, 20,331 wildlife–vehicle collisions were reported across the state in 2019, and 18,607 such collisions were reported in 2020 — a decrease the NCDOT largely attributes to reduced travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. A 2021 release from the department additionally estimated that 7% of all reported vehicle crashes in the state involve animal strikes, with almost half occurring in the twilight hours or at night, between October and December. 

Safe Passage urges our North Carolina supporters to contact their state senator today to encourage them to request $5 million in the budget for wildlife crossings.

CONTACT YOUR SENATOR

“North Carolina’s funding to support wildlife safe passage across roads will help provide habitat connectivity essential for the persistence of healthy North Carolina wildlife populations, especially in the face of environmental changes that are increasingly transforming and fragmenting landscapes,” said Liz Hillard, Safe Passage co-research lead and senior wildlife biologist at Wildlands Network, a member of the coalition.  

All appropriated funds will help leverage unprecedented federal resources and could help complete projects currently underway. In the Pigeon River Gorge, one such project, along I-40 at Exit 7 near Harmon Den, has seen progress recently with the installation of wildlife benches and cattle guards to deter wildlife from making dangerous crossings into traffic. But critically important fencing to funnel wildlife under the highway has not yet been installed due to lack of funding.

Earlier this year, members of the Safe Passage Fund Coalition issued an action alert to their supporters to urge N.C. Governor Roy Cooper to allocate funding to protect wildlife from roadway collisions, citing President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $350 million for wildlife crossing construction over and under roadways. 

“Protecting wildlife from roadway collisions is critical for infrastructure, the safety of motorists, natural ecosystems, and maintaining a positive image for North Carolina,” said Tim Gestwicki, CEO of North Carolina Wildlife Federation and chair of Safe Passage Fund Coalition’s Steering Committee. “As roadway construction creates new barriers to long-established wildlife corridors, inevitably animals are increasingly encountering humans and their vehicles. These encounters result in animal and human injuries and fatalities, as well as increased costs for motorists and insurers, and litter our highways with decaying carcasses. Safe Passage Fund Coalition members encourage, and in fact urge North Carolina to join other states across the country to take proactive steps to reduce these wildlife–vehicle collisions.”

Documentary produced by Wildlands Network, NPCA to be featured at Boone Docs film fest

“The Search for Safe Passage,” a short film produced by Wildlands Network and National Parks Conservation Association, is set to make its big screen debut at the Boone Docs Film Festival, held in Boone, North Carolina, on Saturday, Feb. 25. The film, which features interviews with Safe Passage Fund Coalition members Dr. Liz Hillard of Wildlands Network and Jeff Hunter of NCPA, highlights the organizations’ work and research in the Pigeon River Gorge over the last several years.

Organized by the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country, Boone Docs showcases short-form documentary films that celebrate life in and around Appalachia. Each of the selected documentaries range from four to 24 minutes in duration, with “The Search for Safe Passage” coming in at 8 minutes in length.

A synopsis for “The Search for Safe Passage” describes the highway through the Pigeon River Gorge as “treacherous” for those “on four wheels or four legs” alike. “Here, Interstate 40 winds through the steep, forested terrain of the Great Smoky Mountains, allowing cars to drive east to west but preventing wildlife from moving north to south,” the description continues.

The film’s screening at the festival will be followed by a short Q&A session with Hunter, the Southern Appalachian director of National Parks Conservation Association, and Hillard, senior wildlife biologist at Wildlands Network.

Boone Docs Film Festival will be held from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Appalachian Theatre of the High Country, 559 West King St., Boone, North Carolina.

To watch “The Search for Safe Passage,” click here.

NCDOT calls for public comment on 10-year project plan

Now through Friday, Oct. 28, the North Carolina Department of Transportation is accepting public input on its transportation plan for 2024-2033.

The plan, known officially as the State Transportation Improvement Program, is updated approximately every two years and identifies the construction funding and schedule for projects statewide over a 10-year period.

NCDOT uses this public commentary to determine needs and interest levels for prioritizing projects across the state.

The Safe Passage Fund Coalition asks that supporters consider submitting comments that advocate for wildlife crossing projects in Haywood County, along the Pigeon River Gorge.

Suggested comment topics include:

  • Proven solutions to prevent wildlife–vehicle collisions include: improving existing structures like culverts and bridges that wildlife use to cross busy roads, or building new wildlife overpasses and underpasses so wildlife do not have to cross at road grade. Wildlife crossing structures have been shown to reduce motorist collisions involving wildlife by up to 97%.

  • Consider adding wildlife-friendly infrastructure in design and planning for bridge improvements already planned by NCDOT.

  • Construct large-mammal underpasses to reduce dangerous collisions with species such as white-tailed deer.

  • Construct small-mammal, reptile, and amphibian underpasses to significantly reduce roadkill.

  • Wildlife–vehicle collision-related costs add up to roughly $12 billion in the U.S. annually. The cost of a deer–vehicle collision averages around $6,000. Wildlife crossings can be costly upfront, but quickly pay for themselves by reducing the economic effects of collision emergency response, damages and repairs, medical bills, and reduced ecotourism dollars from wildlife viewing or hunting.

  • Every 26 seconds (or less) a driver hits an animal in the United States, making highways one of the greatest barriers to wildlife movement.

  • In addition to killing 1-2 million large animals every year, these collisions cause 200 human fatalities and more than 26,000 injuries nationwide.

  • Road mortality is a serious threat to 21 endangered and threatened species in the U.S.

  • The U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed by Congress in late 2021, includes $350 million for wildlife crossing infrastructure projects through a competitive grant program. With smart investment and continued public support, North Carolina can make its roads safer for people and wildlife alike.

Please consider filling out NCDOT’s survey and voicing your support for wildlife-friendly infrastructure in upcoming projects to improve safety for wildlife and motorists alike. All comments must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 28.

SUBMIT MY COMMENTS TO NCDOT

Research results unveiled for Safe Passage project area, providing framework for wildlife–vehicle collision prevention

The burden imposed by I-40 on wildlife habitat connectivity and transportation safety makes the Pigeon River Gorge a national priority site for wildlife–vehicle collision mitigation.

On June 29, two partners of the Safe Passage Fund Coalition — Wildlands Network and the National Parks Conservation Association — released their official report, Road Ecology Research and Mitigation Strategies to Improve Wildlife Connectivity and Human Safety along I-40 in the Pigeon River Gorge.

The much-anticipated report details the findings of more than three years of roadside research in the I-40 Pigeon River Gorge project area combined with analysis of 20 years of historical data. The study was one of largest road ecology research projects ever completed in the eastern United States.

The report was authored by a team of cooperating researchers and scientists:

  • Liz Hillard – Ph.D., Senior Wildlife Biologist, Wildlands Network
  • Steve Goodman – Conservation Biologist, National Parks Conservation Association
  • Ron Sutherland – Ph.D., Chief Scientist, Wildlands Network
  • Jeff Hunter – Southeast Regional Program Manager, National Parks Conservation Association

Based on the research findings, the report provides 20 detailed mitigation recommendations for improvements to existing structures or creation of new structures throughout the Gorge, and calls for installation of a system of strategically placed wildlife fencing. Additionally, through consensus, the report’s authors provide seven “top priority” recommendations, including key opportunities to construct wildlife overpasses and install larger culverts under the highway.

Click here to read the executive summary of the report, and click here to read the report in full.

READ THE SUMMARY

The research provides the framework for mitigation strategies to both improve existing structures and construct new wildlife-specific structures to reduce wildlife–vehicle collisions (WVCs) and increase wildlife habitat connectivity.