The 20-mile stretch of Interstate-10 (I-10) between Vail and Benson, east of Tucson, Arizona, divides the regionally important Rincon-Santa Rita-Whetstone Mountains Wildlife Linkage. This linkage is one of the few remaining north-south I-10 wildlife crossing points found between Tucson and New Mexico and it encompasses several protected areas and important waters, including Davidson Canyon and Cienega Creek, making it critically important for desert wildlife in the face of climate change. In 2017, the Coalition for Sonoran Desert Protection (CSDP), with community and agency partners, conducted comprehensive assessments and wildlife surveys of the nearly 80 existing underpasses and drainage culverts in the study area. We found that that this wildlife linkage could be made safer for wildlife and motorists by 1) installing wildlife funnel-fencing to keep animals off the highway and to direct wildlife toward existing crossing points; 2) retrofitting and widening existing drainage culverts located in high volume areas; and 3) construction of an additional wildlife crossing between Cienega Creek and the railroad underpass near Empirita Rd Exit 292. In 2022, we completed two concurrent 2-year studies using wildlife camera trap monitoring and roadkill surveys, with community science engagement, to gather species-specific baseline data on wildlife passage rates and roadkill hotpots. Our results, including four black bear road mortalities and over 789,000 photos of 36 species, identify the optimum locations for wildlife funnel-fencing, culvert retrofits, and new wildlife crossings. Pima County is now using this data to propose funding for specific mitigation efforts to improve highway safety and wildlife connectivity, while minimizing wildlife-vehicle collisions.
