Join us for a tour of major wildlife crossing zones on the I-70 Mountain Corridor as it winds up from the outskirts of Denver, through the foothills and towards the Continental Divide. This field trip will showcase Colorado's newest wildlife crossing - double span bridges under six lanes of interstate designed to reduce collisions and provide a safe passageway for elk, mule deer, and other wildlife. This site also features the state's first installation of a permanent monitoring system connected to fiber optic cable and power. Denver Mountain Parks manages a bison herd adjacent to this site and was an important partner in coordinating the highway fence design with the bison enclosure.
We will stop at a park to hear about this coordination and to view the iconic American bison. The tour will then proceed up the I-70 Mountain Corridor to the site of a planned bighorn sheep overpass. This stop will feature the partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to expand the State Wildlife Area to protect the habitat adjacent to the overpass and the multitude of design considerations that had to be addressed in this rocky, complex terrain. Our final stop will take us into the historic mining town of Georgetown and Georgetown Lake, where we may have the opportunity to see bighorn sheep on the steep hillsides above I-70.