Roads and highways impact wildlife directly through wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) and indirectly by cutting off the movement of plants, fish, birds and wildlife. In California alone, economic costs associated with these collisions are approximately $300 million each year.
Linked habitats for California’s diverse species are integral to the resiliency of the species that exist throughout California. Landscape connectivity declines continue, stemming from urbanization, land use, climate change, and existing or proposed barriers such as roads, railroads and other infrastructure. These threats demonstrate the need for enabling conditions to allow species to move and migrate properly to adapt and survive. Incorporating connectivity for species movement in planning can help Caltrans and regional transportation agencies anticipate safety issues related to WVCs and contribute to the conservation of wildlife, including listed species.
Despite the threat posed to both humans and wildlife from ongoing collisions and loss of connected habitat, WVC data collection has been uneven and often haphazard. A 2018 review of Caltrans records for wildlife vehicle collision data has shown Caltrans is failing to collect – or report out to the public – data on WVCs with many districts underreporting collisions and four of Caltrans’ 12 collecting no data for the past seven years.
California leads the nation in many areas of environmental protection. However, our state has been falling behind in protecting people and wildlife from ongoing WVC and loss of connected habitat. Some western states are collecting data, identifying collision hotspots, and using wildlife crossing infrastructure to achieve collision reductions of more than 80 percent. Utah has even developed a wildlife vehicle collision reporter web-app for its state personnel to use to record wildlife vehicle collision data.
We are working in California to enact legislation directing the establishment of a program to systematically collect data statewide on WVCs on all transportation infrastructure operated or maintained by Caltrans, analyze that data, and make it available publicly on an annual basis. Caltrans would be directed to work with California Department of Fish and Wildlife and others to develop data collection and analysis, including a smartphone-based system for reporting WVCs. These WVC data can be used to identify highway segments where wildlife movements must be considered in transportation planning, project development, regulatory permitting and operation of transportation. Finally, standardized statewide collection of WVCs data would provide important data for CDFW’s ongoing connectivity mapping effort. If California is going to invest in identifying important connectivity areas to inform planning, conservation investment and climate adaptation efforts, California should also invest in producing important data to ensure that these efforts are maximizing benefits for people and wildlife.