​The I-90 freeway also slices through the Cascade Mountains and connected ecosystems relied upon by treasured wildlife such as elk, wolverine, bear, deer, fox, and myriad species with habitat requirements—much like our own human need to move around our own neighborhoods and get to the grocery store and go about our daily lives.
 
Yet the animals are getting cut off by the I-90 corridor. They’re deterred by the traffic and the noise, for one thing, which affects their ability to roam in search of mates, food, and necessary territory for species survival. And of course, there are wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) every year, causing damage and death to animals and humans. 

Cascade Crossroads is a documentary telling of how the I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition was formed of people from different organizations and people of all persuasions, working  together to develop a forward-thinking plan that included multiple wildlife overpasses and underpasses and whose work became a shining example of what can happen when business, community and government work collaboratively. 

Spearheaded by an organization called Conservation Northwest and a collaborative effort that ultimately involved some 17,000 people and millions of dollars in funding, The Cascades Conservation Partnership helped secure 45,000 protected acres of National Forest Land for reconstruction of I-90. Out of this effort came the Wildlife Bridges Coalition, which included AAA Washington, Sierra Club, and many others. 

Imagine the early days of this group, starting with representatives from road safety and wildlife protection as well as engineers at Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT). There was a great deal of mistrust from the start, a lack of acceptance of the environmental engineers, for one, because of their conventional way of doing things. They were challenged with: What would it take to do it differently? To design something with wildlife in mind? 

Deer using underpass, safely avoiding overhead traffic

It took some time. The coalition went out and engaged the public, including young children, by creating the “Bridging Futures Coloring Project.” With kids involved in understanding the importance of connected habitat and wildlife bridges and underpasses, parents became educated and there was an evolution of thinking. Ultimately, when the coalition’s environmental impact statement was published, it received 1300 comments—all favorable and encouraging of ecological connectivity.

Deer using underpass at night, averting dusk and dawn collisions

​The group went on to study snow tracking of animals. They tracked how animals approached the highway, where they stopped, where they went around or tried to cross. Further studies were done in Banff, Canada, which has a total of 44 wildlife crossing structures and since 1996 has engaged in the continuous research and monitoring of these crossings. Based on all of its findings and research, the coalition provided analysis and development recommendations, and much to its surprise, the suggestions were well received and all ideas were opted for. 

At the close of 2019 Snoqualmie Pass East project has seen some of the first wildlife overpasses built and already some wildlife “wins” as seen in the photos of the many elk, deer, and other animals readily using the structures. 

​The Snoqualmie Pass will ultimately include overcrossings and underpasses that are 156-feet wide, 60-feet tall, and span six lanes of traffic. They’ll be fully vegetated so that as wildlife move across they’ll never even know they’re over a highway! To encourage new plant growth, the Forest Service is planting thousands of native plants every year to provide food sources for wildlife and to encourage survival of species. All aspects of the project should be complete by 2029.
 
You can also find out more about the Cascade Crossroads documentary and how to use it to inspire action in your own community.

Like this article? Share it with someone who loves wildlife! And we'd love your feedback and comments below.

​In case you haven’t heard, LA is soon to be home to the largest wildlife bridge on the planet. That’s right, a bridge that’s some 30 years in the making will span 10 lanes of Highway 101 at Liberty Canyon. The 200-foot-high nature bridge will reconnect a segment of the Santa Monica Mountains and an entire ecosystem that has been disrupted by roads and urban sprawl that has led to habitat loss and fragmentation, which has contributed to steady decline and near extinction of the California mountain lion.

​At the annual P-22 Day Festival and Urban Wildlife Week in October to celebrate urban environmentalism and “the Brad Pitt” of California mountain lions—a handsome LA cougar affectionately known as P-22 who has his own Facebook page—Give Wildlife a Brake caught up with the co-director of CLAW (Citizens of Los Angeles for Wildlife), Andrew Lasken, to learn more about the wildlife corridor movement in California. CLAW is leading the way in promoting wildlife protection and also educating the public about the importance of connected habit for wildlife, in Los Angeles and beyond.

Lasken provides a great habit loss and fragmentation definition in this short video clip and also mentions simple solutions for developers, such as “buffers” (not building all the way back to the edge of a plot, but leaving room for animals to move about).

• Connected habitat advocacy. The organization has been instrumental in advocating for a Wildlife Habitat Linkage Zone—to bring attention to open space habitat on private land that could potentially be developed and further disrupt already fragile habitat in the region.

 

• Land preservation for wildlife corridors. Another massive success in reversing habitat loss and fragmentation was the Let’s Buy a Mountain campaign, a coordinated effort between CLAW and conservation partners. A wildlife cam documented myriad species of animals using an existing wildlife corridor, providing evidence for the need to maintain the land as connective habitat. Through fundraising, the organizations were able to purchase 17 acres of land in the Hollywood Hills that will be preserved for generations to come.

 

• Conservation easements. This is an agreement that restricts land from being developed. It is sometimes called a conservation covenant—and it is a binding agreement between current landowners as well as future owners of the land, to ensure the property remains undeveloped.

 

• Acting as a wildlife corridor monitor in the city of Los Angeles. Whenever there is urban planning and development, CLAW is keeping a careful watch for whether the LA Planning Department is taking into consideration wildlife habitat connectivity and any impact that development might have.

On the CLAW website you can find suggestions for how to facilitate wildlife movement on your own property. Sometimes a simple change to fencing or landscaping can improve the flow for animals that need to get to food, shelter and potential mates.
 
National Wildlife Federation also has a really cool certification program where you can have your own backyard certified as a wildlife habitat. It involves growing native plants, providing safe places to hide from predators, and using sustainable practices.
 
Like this article? Share it with your wildlife advocate friends! And let us hear your thoughts on habitat loss and fragmentation. What do you think of the kinds of solutions CLAW has already been a part of?

Ever since I started posting and promoting on Facebook about conservation corridors (also referred to as wildlife corridors, ecocorridors, migration corridors and the like), I started getting the sarcastic commentary. “Har-har, how’s the deer gonna know where to cross, deer don’t read signs, har-har!?”
 
Then there were the ones who took it as an affront, a simple photo from Wikipedia—a brilliant illustration of what a conservation corridor could and should look like—presumably with private lands nudging up against land that is reserved as a “corridor” for animals to continue on their way without interruption and fragmentation of natural habitat. It caused quite a stir and some nasty back and forth between community members. My favorite comment by far, however, was the one about “hippie commie climate change b.s.” so I just had to run with that one.

Wildlife overpasses are used as a mitigation measure worldwide to reduce the mortality of wildlife on roads, and to a certain extent, to facilitate the genetic exchange of both flora and fauna species in forest fragments. This photo depicts a newly constructed wildlife overpass in highly urbanized Singapore, which connects two rainforest nature reserves that was separated by an eight-lane highway for close to 30 years.
Benjamin P. Y-H. Lee (University of Kent). [CC BY 4.0 ]

​So yes, there may be some leftist hippie commies in our midst, right alongside some good ol’ gun-totin, NRA members who love to hunt and have a deep and abiding appreciation for wildlife conservation, which means ensuring that animals are healthy, thriving, abundant, and free to move about, feed and reproduce in their most natural state of environment.
 
And for the record, conservation corridors have quite a few fans I would hardly consider of the leftist, hippie commie ilk. We’re talking Departments of Transportation, Departments of Natural Resources, and Game Commissions from Montana to Florida and quite a few in between—who have been studying wildlife-vehicle interaction for decades and understand the value of coming at this very costly issue from “under” and “above” rather than dead on the road.
 
That doesn’t mean we all agree on this stuff. There are challenges. But we’re highly intelligent and cooperative human beings who know how to work things out. We’re Americans, after all, so we do things democratically. Not everybody’s happy with everything all the time, but in general, things get better for the greater good of all. 

Have something to fuss about? Go ahead. Get it off your chest. But by all means, do your due diligence and keep learning about conservation corridors and the difference they can make. The difference might end up being in your own back yard.