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Animal Friendly Road Construction

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From georgiana, Featured Contributor
Posted on October 3, 2008

Programs the Government Runs to Protect Animals from Drivers.

Many years ago I was hiking through a gorgeous landscape when my companion startled me by saying, "This place is so beautiful. I'd love to build a road through it." This was a new perspective for me, who had always been grateful there were no roads spoiling the place. I’ve also always worried for the wildlife displaced by the road. I would feel pretty awful if a species built a major thoroughfare right through my living room, forcing me to cross it whenever I wanted to get to my kitchen.

It turns out that the Federal Highway Administration has a program to minimize the impact of roads on the animals that live near them. All the methods they use are easy and inexpensive. One of the methods is establishing no mow zones. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department has designated 30,000 acres of roadside areas as no mow zones which allow birds, butterflies, squirrels, deer and other animals living near roads to survive.

In Wyoming, the Department of Transportation discovered that mule deer were imperiled by the ‘right of way’ fences running along WYO 135. Topped with wire, the fences were confusing to the deer, making it difficult to accurately judge the height of the fences. By In Wyoming adding wooden rails to the tops, the fences became easier to see and the deer stopped crashing into them.

There are also steps taken to protect animals while road construction is going on. In California, the Department of Transportation held trainings on the San Joaquin Kit Fox, which is an endangered species, which allows engineers and contractors to identify it and take steps to protect it . This includes sealing empty fox holes, which at first glance seems harmful, but as Zachary K. Parker, Biology Branch Chief, Caltrans Central Region, explains, "The fox den was going to be destroyed because of the construction project; one measure to ensure that no kit fox are killed is to survey the den and when it has been determined that any occupants have left the den, the den is collapsed." The story goes on to say approximately sixty kit foxes have been spotted during construction projects and none have been harmed. Hooray!

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georgiana is a featured contributor for vLane.