This page reports preliminary results of the Bozeman Pass Study. For more information on background and study design, visit the Background Page

Pass Wildlife Linkage and Highway Safety Study

Bozeman Pass 2002 objectives

• Refine the current landscape-scale model for the Bozeman Pass area using additional road-kill, winter track survey, remote camera, and track-plate data.
  
• Continue to implement the protection of connectivity habitat and highway permeability through collaboration with local land trusts, public lands managers, Montana Highway Department engineers, and conservation groups in the Bozeman Pass area: help apply this co-operative model to the MacArthur Lake and Crowsnest Pass areas.
  

(photo: an overpass in Banff)

BOZEMAN PASS WILDLIFE LINKAGE AND HIGHWAY SAFETY STUDY April C. Craighead*, Elizabeth A. Roberts^, and, F. Lance Craighead*. *Craighead Environmental Research Institute, 201 South Wallace Ave., Bozeman, MT 59715. Phone: 406-585-8705. Fax: 406-585-8220. Email: Lance@grizzlybear.org. ^American Wildlands, 40 East Main Street, Bozeman MT 59715. Phone: 406-586-8175. Fax: 406-586-8242. Email: eroberts@wildlands.org   EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This paper reports the results from the first field season and first model iteration of the Bozeman Pass wildlife linkage and highway safety study. This project was carried out by the Craighead Environmental Research Institute (CERI) and was funded by the Henry P. Kendall Foundation as a part of the Yellowstone to Yukon science program. GIS analysis was provided by American Wildlands with support from CERI. This paper was presented at the 4th Annual International Conference on Ecology and Transportation and is published in the proceedings of that conference (maps have been slightly modified since that publication). Field research will continue throughout 2002 to include snow tracking and camera surveys, and a second iteration of the models is also planned as additional funding becomes available. Potential wildlife movement habitat (corridors) were identified using GIS least-cost-path models. The model results were compared with field data consisting of roadkill locations. Results of this analysis indicate that GIS least-cost-path models help to identify locations where animals attempt to cross the highway. The models can probably be improved by incorporating additional data layers such as slope and man-made barriers to movement such as fences or median (Jersey) barriers. In the absence of accurate roadkill or track data, these models are useful to identify potential crossing sites, and should be applicable across the Yellowstone to Yukon region with appropriate modifications for local species preferences. Once identified, the crossing site locations can be inspected on the ground in order to determine whether crossing structures such as underpasses or overpasses could be built.   ABSTRACT: BOZEMAN PASS WILDLIFE LINKAGE AND HIGHWAY SAFETY STUDY Large-scale conservation efforts seek to maintain habitat connections so that native wildlife (and plant) species may move across the landscape as necessary to meet their needs to survive and reproduce. Barriers caused by roads and railways pose a significant impediment to wildlife movement at all scales throughout the U.S. Northern Rockies area, and a risk of injury or death to animals whose needs require crossing when traffic is present. In turn, animals on highways pose a risk of injury or death to motorists and property damage to vehicles. As traffic volumes increase, these risks also increase. Bozeman Pass is just beginning to experience significant conflicts with wildlife. In addition to a four-lane freeway (Interstate 90) there are parallel frontage roads and a railway. As traffic volumes continue to increase the problems will only get worse. To plan for inevitable growth in human populations and traffic volumes, and to fulfill the mandates of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) regarding wildlife needs and public safety, it is imperative that options for wildlife conflict mitigation be started as soon as possible on Bozeman Pass. This study attempts to identify the problem?areas for wildlife and human safety at Bozeman Pass and make recommendations about how and where to mitigate wildlife mortality and human safety issues in the connectivity zone. Several moose, mountain lions, black bear, deer, elk, small mammals, and one wolf have been killed by traffic within the past two years. GIS models and maps have been developed for this project to summarize location data for wildlife?vehicle collision, wildlife movement corridors, wildlife habitat, and potential sites for wildlife crossing structures. GIS models using least-cost-path analysis were compared with the known locations of road-kills and model predictions were close to actual crossing points. Differences between the field data and the model data suggest that the models can be improved by incorporating additional data layers and perhaps by adjusting the weights of model variables. Click here for the full report (pdf) Bozeman Pass.pdf   Design Recomendations For Bozeman Pass