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Montana news about the environment, natural resources, wildlife, climate change and more.

Groups begin study on I-90 wildlife crossings near Missoula

Deer approach a culvert in the Ninemile area near Missoula. Wildlife groups are studying the possibility of helping wildlife in the area safely cross I-190.
Center for Large Landscape Conservation.
Deer approach a culvert in the Ninemile area near Missoula. Wildlife groups are studying the possibility of helping wildlife in the area safely cross I-190.

Montana has the second highest rate of wildlife vehicle collision per capita in the country. Within the state, there are certain areas that are especially dangerous.

Kylie Paul is a road ecologist with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation. She recently addressed a crowd of more than 40 people at the Ninemile Community Center.

“Basically a third of the reported vehicle crashes here are with wildlife, and that's almost triple the statewide average of 12%,”Paul says.

Paul is part of a team of citizens and nonprofits that has proposed wildlife crossings that help animals like grizzly bears, mountain lions, black bears and elk move from the Flathead to the Bitterroot. Right now, I-90 stands in their way.

An overturned semi on 1-90 near Missoula after colliding with an elk on the road.
Center for Large Landscape Conservation.
An overturned semi on 1-90 near Missoula after colliding with an elk on the road.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear specialist Jamie Jonkel also spoke at the meeting. He said the landscape funnels wildlife through this valley.

“All those wildlife coming out on the Missions and the Salish [Mountains] get down in the Flathead River bottoms — boom, they're up here on the Reservation Divide, and the ridges lead right into the Ninemile Valley,” Jonkel says.

The groups are studying the idea of underpasses below east and west Ninemile bridges, and the expansion of the Sixmile Creek culvert.

The project has initial funding from the state to look at engineering options. That work starts this month and will take a year to complete. Once that is done, the groups will need additional funding to build the wildlife crossings.

Ellis Juhlin is MTPR's Environmental Reporter. She covers wildlife, natural resources, climate change and agriculture stories. She worked at Utah Public Radio and Yellowstone Public Radio prior to joining MTPR, and in wildlife conservation before becoming a journalist. She has a Master's Degree in Ecology from Utah State University and is an average birder who wants you to keep your cat indoors. Her life is run by her three dogs, one of which is afraid of birds.

ellis.juhlin@mso.umt.edu
406-272-2568
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