Transportation

	Y2Y helps make ROADS SAFER for both human travel and wildlife movement.

Click here to see the latest updates on our Transportation work.
 

(Watch the Highway Wilding 23-minute documentary to learn more about the efforts Y2Y and its partners are taking to make our roads safer for people and animals.)

THREAT

Wildlife must navigate across busy roads to continue their journey. Image: Kent Nelson

Roads, and in particular highways, as well as trains, are significant barriers to wildlife movement throughout the Yellowstone to Yukon region. Even in protected areas like Banff, Yoho and Kootenay national parks wildlife collisions on roads are an issue. In 2012, 12 grizzly bears were struck in the parks by motorists on roads with no form of wildlife-crossing structures. Another four were killed by trains. 2014 saw another two grizzlies taken out by the train.These barriers not only threaten the lives of people, but if wildlife cannot cross roads and connect to other populations it limits their genetic diversity, which will lead to long-term population decline.

OPPORTUNITY

Wildlife structures through Banff National Park have reduced wildlife-vehicle collisions by 80%. Image: Josh Whetzel

Other measures, such as movable remotely-triggered wildlife signs, are effective at alerting drivers to slow down to the presence of wildlife. This measure is highly effective for roads that are lined with private dwellings and drive-ways, which makes adding fencing and crossing structures impractical. These are just a few examples of many mitigation options.

WHAT Y2Y IS DOING

As of 2013, some 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of highways across Alberta, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming are or are in the process of being modified to be safer for both wildlife and people thanks to the work of Y2Y and its partners. Despite this, there are thousands of miles of highway and railway line that threaten both people and wildlife. Y2Y is focused on tackling each of these barriers, one at a time.

GOALS & CURRENT PROJECTS 

• Make Alberta and B.C.’s Highway 3 Wildlife-Friendly.
• Make Idaho’s Highway 20 Wildlife-Friendly.
• Complete a wildlife collision analysis on BC Highway 97.
• Contribute to Parks Canada’s fencing and underpasses along Highway 93 South through Kootenay National Park.
• Support the People’s Way Partnership’s efforts to communicate the ecological effectiveness of highway wildlife-crossing structures on northern Montana’s U.S. Highway 93. 
• Advance creative solutions by supporting the Animal Road Crossings (ARC) competition, which facilitates innovation in wildlife structures.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Donate: Make a donation to help make roads and highways in the Yellowstone to Yukon region safer for wildlife and people. See how we use your donation dollars.

Add Your Voice: Sign up to receive our Action Alerts and add your voice to important conservation causes.

PARTNERS INCLUDE:

Alberta Environment and Parks, Alberta Transportation, American Wildlands, Annatum Ecological Consulting, BC Hydro Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program, BC Conservation Foundation, Bridger Teton National Forest, Caribou Targhee National Forest, Miistakis , Center for Large Landscape Conservation, Great Northern Environmental Stewardship Area, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Idaho Master Naturalists, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance,  Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Peoples’ Way Partnership, Road Watch in the Pass, The Nature Conservation, The Teton Conservation District,  University of Northern BC, Valhalla Wilderness Society, Volker Stevin, Western Transportation Institute and The Wildlife Conservation Society. 

Related Information:

Fencing and Wildlife Crossing Structures

Banff Wildlife Crossing Structures

Central Canadian Rocky Mountains

Cabinet-Purcell Mountain Corridor

Crown of the Continent

GET THE LATEST: Transportation News