Researchers exploring ways to reduce vehicle-wildlife collisions on a busy highway north of Yellowstone National Park have published their findings from a multi-year study.
Motorists on U.S. Highway 191 in southwest Montana hit wildlife more than twice as often as the statewide average, according to the Montana Department of Transportation.
That’s a main reason researchers at the Center for Large Landscape Conservation and Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute joined forces to study the roadway for possible solutions.
U.S.-191 merges into Highway 64 near Big Sky and runs south into West Yellowstone. The state transportation department says vehicle traffic on the highways rose more than 38% in the last decade. As part of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, the region is frequented by elk, deer, grizzlies and other large animals.
Road ecologist Liz Fairbank worked on the report, and said mitigating wildlife collisions will require a lot of cooperation from many state and local agencies.
“I’m hopeful. There’s kind of a lot of relationships that have been built over the last five years; processes and tools,” Fairbank told MTPR. “So, I think we’re in a good spot right now in Montana.
In the long term, the study recommends officials build more overpasses and underpasses for wildlife, new fencing and highway lighting. The researchers suggest posting new warning signs and reduced speed limits as short-term solutions.
View the full report, or a two-page summary.
