SWEETWATER COUNTY — State departments, nonprofits and others got together to chat about problems with vehicles and animals crashing into each other. Their efforts may lead to new initiatives funded by the sale of conservation-themed license plates.
Wild animal crashes went up 37 percent in 2016 from 2013. So then came the Wildlife and Roadways Summit on April 26-27. The conference concerning animal deaths and injuries as a result of vehicles was meant to be an incubator for finding ways to fund and implement projects that reduce wildlife/vehicle collisions, increase motorist safety and maintain or re-establish disconnected wildlife migration routes. Event sponsors included the Wyoming Department of Transportation, Wyoming Game and Fish and the Green River-headquartered Muley Fanatic Foundation.
Talk centered around “the importance and significance not just of motorist safety, but motorist crashes,” as Muley Fanatic Foundation Director Joshua Coursey put it. He added that it also included “action items that could come from that to mitigate or limit some of those losses.”
There were 12,180 total wild animal crashes from 2012-16, according to documentation obtained by the Rocket-Miner.
“Wildlife-related vehicle collisions pose a safety hazard to the traveling public and are costly. For example, WyDOT estimates the average costs per reported deer-vehicle collision are $11,600 in injury and property damage costs, and WGFD estimates the economic value of each killed mule deer is $4,000,” a WyDOT report states.
WyDOT concluded deer-vehicle collisions total approximately $24 million to $29 million per year in Wyoming in injury and damage costs and an additional $20 million to $23 million per year in wildlife costs.
“One in 15 highway deaths last year involved a wildlife crash,” WyDOT Director Bill Panos said in a prepared statement. “This is unacceptable.”
“Records of animal carcasses removed from roads and road right of ways by WyDOT show that an average of about 6,000 wildlife-vehicle collisions occurred annually over the last three years,” read a WyDOT statement.
“This number is likely still a significant underestimate of actual large mammal wildlife-vehicle collisions,” WyDOT staff noted, “as many animals leave the road right of way before dying and many carcasses are not picked up before decaying or being scavenged to the point of being difficult to remove.”
The Rocket-Miner called Panos for further comment, but the call was deferred to WyDOT Chief Engineer Greg Frederick, who did not respond as of press time.
“It’s not necessarily a great thing to have deer in town,” MFF Southwest Chapter Chair Chris Steffen said.
“It’s been estimated that mule deer populations have declined nearly 38 percent in the west in the past two decades,” Coursey said. “Any and all efforts to limit this loss should be of utmost priority.”
I’m just a bill
Coursey said MFF decided to reach out to Rep. Stan Blake, D-Green River, after the meeting, “around late April, early May.” Blake and the MFF worked on legislation over the summer to create specialty plates that would help fund conservation efforts.
House Bill 39 would authorize the new plates and direct the one-time $100 application fee to the Wildlife Conservation Account within the Highway Fund, which would be created by the bill, according to the legislation’s fiscal note. The application fee is separate from the $30 fee for specialty plate issuance and renewal.
Blake sits on the House Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee, which endorsed and referred HB 39 to the Appropriation Committee on Friday.
Coursey cited revenue from a plate as a major benefit of the bill, which has both Republican and Democrat sponsors.
“At some point, we had to figure out a way to think outside the box,” Coursey said. “Conservation anglers ... had been flipping the bill for conservation for 150 years.”
“Eighty seven percent of WGFD revenue is generated by sportsmen through the sale of licenses,” Coursey also said. “That’s a testament to the regard that the hunters and anglers ... regard for their wildlife.”
Coursey said “by no means is the license plate the fix-all to this” and it can never generate enough compensating revenue, but he’s excited nonetheless.
“It’s been met with a lot of support, and I’m optimistic this session and on the watch of the Legislature currently serving that we can bring this to fruition,” Coursey said. “I’m just optimistic that it will pass out of the watch of the current Legislature so that sportsmen can participate in the solution for the revenue.”
Coursey said “the timing is right” for HB 39 because much satellite collaring, a form of tracking, has taken place in the last five years. He said the collaring has been part of several research projects facilitated by the University of Wyoming.
“That data has allowed for a firsthand account of what’s going on in the landscape,” Coursey said. “That specific data can be used to help prioritize where WyDOT and Game and Fish can work to put forth a project to allow or re-establish migration to occur while at the same time, advancing motorist safety. ... We know where these crossings are and can pinpoint with great accuracy to limit this loss.
“That’s just the sign of the times of where we are at,” Coursey said.
To go directly to the Rocket Miner website, click here.
