First Federally Funded Program to Prevent Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions is Launched

Details for a first-of-its-kind pilot program to ensure safer roads for both humans and wildlife, as well as improve habitat connectivity, were announced by the Biden Administration today.  

This comes more than a year after passing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which designates $350 million in federal funds to the program. Administered by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), states now have access to apply for desperately needed resources to build wildlife road crossings.  

“Every year, Americans are injured and killed in crashes involving cars and wildlife,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “By launching the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, we are taking an important step to prevent deadly crashes in communities across the country and make America’s roadways safer for everyone who uses them.” 

The grant funding seeks to promote activities that reduce wildlife vehicle collisions, including warning signs for drivers and construction of wildlife crossings both over and under roadways. Grants are available for all project activities, including but not limited to research, planning, design, and construction. The FHWA plans to award non-construction and construction projects under the Wildlife Crossings Program, including research on safety innovations, mapping and tracking tools, and the design and construction of overpasses and underpasses. 

Importantly, the program also allows for the research and identification of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife corridors, roadways that are barriers to wildlife movement and even the restoration of habitat necessary for the success of the wildlife crossing. 

Wildlands Network has been working with partners to identify areas of critical concern for wildlife and motorists across the United States, where the natural movements of wildlife and modern human transportation collide.  

In the past 10 years, we’ve seen unprecedented interest from state and local transportation agencies and elected officials in mitigating wildlife-vehicle collisions, including building wildlife crossings across dangerous stretches of highways. We’ve designed projects hand-in-hand with state transportation and wildlife agency staff, collecting the data needed to design appropriate and innovative solutions to this deadly problem. Based on successful projects, we know that wildlife crossing structures can reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions by more than 90%. 

Last spring, we also co-hosted a series of webinars to help demystify for local, state, tribal, and federal entities how to plan for and implement wildlife crossing infrastructure projects by leveraging the funds now available via the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. 

"We are thrilled that the grant application period for this highly anticipated and first-of-its kind Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program is finally open and we look forward to working with our agency partners on the ground to help implement these critical funds," said Wildlands Network U.S. Public Policy Director Erin Sito. 

Projects funded by this program will do more than reduce harm to humans and wildlife involved in collisions; the projects will help to restitch together wildlife habitats that have been divided by roadways.  Indeed, one of the most effective strategies for improving climate resilience of our ecosystems is to ensure that habitat is protected and connected at a landscape scale. We will continue to work with our partners to provide resources about the federal funds made available through the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program so that local communities, state agencies, Tribes, and federal land managers can continue to protect fish and wildlife habitats and prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions.