Why did the elk cross the road? And don’t say “to get to the other side.”
The answers, state wildlife and transportation officials say, range from seeking high country in summer, snow-free hillsides for winter forage, and mating grounds in the spring.
All those rambling animals — deer, elk, sheep, bears and lynx — create the third-biggest source of vehicle collisions in Colorado.
A coalition of environmental groups is pressing state transportation officials to commit 1 percent of a projected $650 million in state and federal highway funds for wildlife-related projects.
“So far, it isn’t happening,” said Stacey Stegman, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
That hasn’t deterred the environmental groups, which include Colorado Wild, the Sierra Club and the Center for Native Ecosystems.
“What we are trying to do is get wildlife integrated in highway planning early on and all the time,” said Monique DiGiorgio, a conservation strategist with the Western Environmental Law Center in Durango.
Still, the approximately $400 million in federal economic stimulus money for transportation that the state has received will fund only one wildlife project — a $500,000 underpass on U.S. 285 in Jefferson County.
The additional funds did allow the state to free up some other money for a $1 million wildlife fencing, ramp and guardrail project in Garfield County near Glenwood Springs, Stegman said.
“It was up to our partners — local government — to set the priorities for the projects,” Stegman said.
As for the $250 million a year in state funds that will be raised through higher auto registration fees by a bill that cleared the legislature Friday, the initial $100 million will be committed to repairing 126 bridges.
“We aren’t saying that wildlife should come before safe bridges,” said DiGiorgio. “But wildlife crossing is both a safety issue and an environmental issue.”
Since 1993, there have been an average of 2,448 wildlife-vehicle collisions each year, and CDOT officials say they are searching for solutions.
The department is experimenting with a first-in-the-nation electromagnetic “early warning system” for drivers on U.S. 160 east of Durango. That mile-long stretch sees 25 to 30 wildlife-vehicle collisions a year, said Mike McVaugh, a CDOT traffic safety engineer.
“The animals are moving back and forth between the high country in the San Juan National Forest to the north and low country to the south,” McVaugh said. “It’s just unfortunate that Highway 160 runs right between them.”
That spot — between mile markers 95 and 96 — has coaxial cables, sensitive enough to pick up the electromagnetic fields of large animals, buried on both sides of the highway.
When an elk, deer, cow or horse crosses the cable, it sets off flashing warning signs. If the experiment is successful and officials want to expand it, a stripped-down warning system might run $250,000 for 1,200 feet of road, McVaugh said.
The traditional approach to trying to manage wildlife crossings uses fencing, underpasses and bridges.
Animals are hit so often on state roads that the Division of Wildlife even has a special road-kill permit that a motorist can get to keep the meat. The permit is free.
“We figure anyone who hit an elk with his car has already paid enough,” division spokesman Randy Hampton said.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
