Catalyzing the Creation of Virginia’s Wildlife Corridor Policy: a Conversation with Misty Boos
Elk licking road salt just off of Virginia 744, or Southern Gap Road, which intersects with Corridor Q in Buchanan County. Photo taken January 2024 by Jackie Rosenberg.
Five years ago, there was little discussion of wildlife crossings or corridors in the Virginia legislature. Today, offices in Richmond are alive with new ideas and creative approaches to implementing their now-formalized Wildlife Corridor Action Plan. What changed?
Misty Boos helped start the conversation that led to the adoption of wildlife corridor and crossing policy in and out of Virginia legislative offices, first as Executive Director at Wild Virginia and now as U.S. Conservation Policy Manager at Wildlands Network. Read on for her firsthand account of how these innovative conservation strategies were first adopted in Virginia.
Audio: Misty Boos shares her experience testifying in Virginia to advance wildlife corridor and crossing policies.
Misty Boos, U.S. Conservation Policy Manager at Wildlands Network
When did Virginians start getting excited about the prospect of conserving corridors and building crossings?
In 2018, when I was Executive Director of Wild Virginia, I was approached by Maggie Ernest Johnson, Landscape Conservationist with the Wildlands Network. She told me about a Wildlands Network-led coalition in North Carolina working to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions on roadways. “We should see if we can get something like this going in Virginia,” she mentioned. I responded, “Let's see what we can do.”
We started by reaching out to Bridget Donaldson, who had been conducting research on wildlife crossings at the Virginia Department of Transportation Research Council (VTRC). She was interested in supporting our efforts because she knew there was potential for wildlife crossings to improve safety on Virgina's roadways from her pilot study on I-64 which showed crossings could reduce collisions by over 90%.
We continued inviting agency representatives, non-profits, and academics to the table, anyone we thought could be interested. At each meeting, we asked who is not here and who should be. Very quickly, we formalized a coalition called the Virginia Safe Wildlife Corridors Collaborative. It includes representatives from a wide variety of organizations and entities from the Smithsonian Movement of Life Institute, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and Department of Wildlife Resources, a host of other nonprofits, and the coalition continues to grow to this day.
A white-tailed deer. Photo by Steven David Johnson
How did this momentum support Virginia’s eventual decision to adopt state Wildlife Corridor Action Plan legislation?
Shortly after formalizing our coalition, Susan Holmes, Federal Policy Director from the Wildlands Network, came to talk to us about wildlife crossing legislative efforts across the US. At some point in the meeting, she said, “Virginia is ripe for working on wildlife crossing legislation” because of the active Virginia Safe Wildlife Corridors Collaborative and the research on wildlife crashes and wildlife crossings that had been conducted by VDOT's research division (VTRC). Susan helped to lay out a roadmap by saying, “Did you know that states like New Mexico and New Hampshire are passing wildlife crossing legislation? Virginia could do this too.”
Virginia at a glance:
Virginia drivers crashed into wild creatures crossing roadways 81,694 times in 2022.
Virginia was recently ranked the ninth highest-risk state for animal-vehicle collisions in the U.S.
Each deer collision costs an estimated $41,000; each elk collision upward of $80,000.
Check out the Virginia’s Habitat Connectivity Hub for more information.
What do you think catalyzed wildlife corridor and crossing discussions in the Virginia legislature?
The strength of this effort came from a broad coalition working together. Wildlands Network provided guidance and inspiration, the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators provided case studies and information, the Virginia Conservation Network provided invaluable connections and helped us navigate the Virginia General Assembly, researchers helped us identify crash hotspots, and agency partners provided mapping tools and advice that helped us ensure that the legislation was practical and workable. It was especially useful to have Bridget’s pilot study in hand when talking to legislators. It helped us show not only that crossings can work, but that they are already working in Virginia.
Who was the first legislator to get involved in wildlife corridors and crossings in Virginia? How did he get involved?
While there have been many supportive legislators, Senator David Marsden played a key role in championing this work since the beginning. In 2019, Susan helped to arrange a meeting for us with Senator Marsden and other Virginia legislators to discuss wildlife crossing policy. We brought Virginia’s wildlife-vehicle collision data and Bridget’s study on I-64 to show how you can reduce crashes with wildlife by over 90 percent with wildlife crossings and fencing. At the time, Wildlands Network was working on a federal wildlife corridor bill with Virginia’s Congressman Beyer, who also reached out to encourage Senator Marsden to act at the state level as well.
“When Congressman Don Beyer approached me about getting involved in wildlife corridor policy, it was fascinating to learn that you could not only protect human life from automobile collisions and prevent some of the $6 billion per year in vehicle property damage, but also you could protect wildlife and improve the range of their habitat.”
What was the first tangible step toward passing wildlife corridor legislation in Virginia?
Starting in 2019, Wildlands Network helped us draft legislation that complemented and supported the state’s ConserveVirginia effort, which prioritized protecting Virginia land with the highest 10% of conservation value by 2028.
In the first year, our wildlife corridor legislation did not pass the Virginia General Assembly. However, by the second year, we had built momentum and in 2020, SB 1004 passed, directing state agencies to start drafting a Wildlife Corridor Action Plan (WCAP) to identify barriers to wildlife movement, prioritize and recommend crossing projects, and create a public-facing map showing high-priority areas for wildlife corridor infrastructure.
It was so exciting for the coalition to see that we could work together to pass legislation. The next year, in 2021, we passed another round of legislation, SB 1274, which directed the State Forester and the Virginia Department of Transportation to incorporate wildlife corridors and recommendations made in the WCAP into their strategic plans, and directed the state wildlife agency to assist state agencies, and any federal agencies, in considering and incorporating wildlife corridors and WCAP recommendations into “any governmental strategic plan, map, or action” being developed by those agencies.
Photo by Steven David Johnson
Last year, the first version of Virginia’s WCAP was completed and VDOT was awarded one of the first federal Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program grants to help fine-tune the next draft of the WCAP. Recently, land trusts have also begun using the WCAP to determine where to invest in land conservation in the Commonwealth. And most recently, Virginia won another $5.6 million federal habitat protection and restoration award in from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to conserve 1,900 acres within a Wildlife Biodiversity Resilience Corridor identified in the WCAP.
What habitat connectivity policy efforts has Virginia pursued most recently?
This year, we helped introduce a new bill in Virginia to establish a Wildlife Corridor Grant Fund (SB 455), providing a place for funding that could attract federal and private dollars.
While the bill passed the Senate with unanimous bipartisan support, it was unfortunately tabled in the House due to a tight state funding budget.
The bill is at a standstill this year, but we’re already working toward 2025. We met with our partners including Wild Virginia, Virginia Conservation Network, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Piedmont Environmental Council, and Virginia’s legislative champions to outline the bill’s next steps.
Overall, I am incredibly proud of how far Virginia has come in its efforts to conserve wildlife corridors and site wildlife crossing locations. As it continues to lead the way for other Eastern states, I'm thrilled to be a part of its legislative journey.
