SALMON PASSAGE AND OTHER WILDLIFE ACTIVITIES IN WASHINGTON STATE

Salmon are an important cultural, ecological, and economic value to the people of Washington State. Roads and impassable culverts are responsible for the loss of many miles of stream habitat. The latest estimate from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is that there are 24,000 culverts blocking off 3,000 mi (4,827 km) of habitat. In 1991, the Washington State Legislature directed the former Washington Department of Fisheries (now the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife) and the Washington Department of Transportation (WSDOT) to cooperate in the inventory and correction of salmon and trout migration barriers at state highway road culverts in the 1991-1993 and 1993-1995 bienniums. In addition, WSDOT was directed to correct 6 fish barriers during the 1991-1993 biennium (subsequently modified to correct 5 barriers and to begin the initial planning on 2 others). In the 1991-1993 biennium, seven separate projects were completed, resulting in a gain of 611,067 sq ft (14 acres or 5.7 sq hectometers) of habitat at a total cost of $208,190. In the 1993-1995 biennium 8 projects were completed, creating 695,262 sq ft (16 acres or 6.5 hectometers) of habitat at a total cost of $767,053. An additional 6 projects have been selected for the 1995-1997 biennium. Other components of the Fish Passage Program include interagency education and training, and additional research. Other WSDOT activities include maintaining a computerized data base of deer and elk kills on state highways and a joint research project looking at habitat conductivity and wildlife movement across I-90 to determine if I-90 is a barrier to wildlife species.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Also published by Florida DOT as a paper in FL-ER-58-96, "Trends in Addressing Transportation Related Wildlife Mortality: Proceedings of the Transportation Related Wildlife Mortality Seminar (June 1996).
• Corporate Authors:

  Florida Department of Transportation

  Haydon Burns Building, 605 Suwanee Street
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32301

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Carey, M
  • Wagner, P
• Conference:
  • Transportation and Wildlife: Reducing Wildlife Mortality and Improving Wildlife Passageways Across Transportation Corridors
  • Location: Orlando, Florida
  • Date: 1996-4-30 to 1996-5-2
• Publication Date: 1996-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 153-168

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Barriers (Roads); Costs; Culverts; Education; Fishes; Habitat (Ecology); Migration; Research; State highways
• Uncontrolled Terms: Barriers; Restoration
• Geographic Terms: Washington (State)
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Design; Environment; Finance; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Research; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00745663
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA-PD-96-041
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 30 1998 12:00AM