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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

Exemplary Environmental Initiative Award Winner: Lava Butte U.S. 97 Wildlife Crossings in Bend, Oregon

New management approaches, including inter-agency collaboration, have been emerging to address multifaceted environmental challenges including mitigation of the ecological effects of roads. The Lava Butte US 97 wildlife crossings project in central Oregon is an example of collaborative cross-agency planning efforts and unique applied solutions to habitat connectivity and animal-vehicle collisions. The planning process incorporated several Eco-Logical concepts: early interagency coordination with an emphasis on meeting interagency mission objectives; an interagency mitigation design team that met regularly to plan, discuss and solve project issues; collaborative and creative funding using several sources; and an agreement to monitor effectiveness of the project despite a lack of immediately available funds. Each agency involved committed to furthering its portion of the objectives with specific actions: managing land adjacent to the crossing structures to enhance effectiveness of the structures (USDA Forest Service); monitoring and maintaining fencing (ODFW); and promoting public awareness of the project at Lava Lands Visitor Center (all) with funding for the structures creatively obtained by ODOT. The Lava Butte project relied on both the Oregon Wildlife Movement Strategy and GPS research on mule deer migration (funded by ODOT and conducted by ODFW) to inform the need for crossing structures in the vicinity. The primary objectives for the crossing structures and other features are to reduce animal-vehicle collisions, restore the mule deer migration pathway, and provide habitat connectivity for all species to cross US Highway 97 successfully. The 4 mile project area includes two large bridge wildlife crossing structures. One is a dedicated wildlife crossing and the other is a combined wildlife and vehicle crossing at Crawford Road, a seasonally closed access road to the Lava Lands Visitor Center. The Crawford Road crossing provides a unique opportunity to assess wildlife use of a structure with temporal separation of people and wildlife. Both crossing structures were enhanced with strategically placed habitat structure and native vegetation to facilitate connectivity of plants and invertebrates as well as small and large animals. Additional project features include exclusionary fencing, four escape ramp structures, bat crevices incorporated into the undercrossing bridge structure, and ElectroBraidTM mats at vehicle access areas. Fencing was designed to deter both large and small animals. Soil was retained and amended within crossing structures to improve passive water retention. Native plants were salvaged pre-construction and stored in the Forest Service nursery then replanted. National Forest System lands on either side of the wildlife crossing structures will be managed for long term enhancement of underpass effectiveness. Interagency collaboration incorporating the Eco-Logical framework on this project is yielding encouraging results at this early stage. Monitoring began in summer of 2012 and documented mule deer, badger, coyote, and ground squirrel using the two crossing structures. The efforts of multiple agency partners working together and implementing best practices features resulted in the selection of the Lava Butte project as an Exemplary Ecosystem Initiative Projects winner by the Federal Highway Administration for 2012 and highlights Lava Butte as an example project.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; Photos; References;
  • Pagination: 14p
  • Monograph Title: Proceedings of the 2013 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET 2013)

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01557926
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Mar 27 2015 10:30AM