hundreds of mule deer<\/a>\u00a0are killed every year.<\/p>\nIt was hoped that construction could begin there in 2027, but with funding still not secured, that might not be possible.<\/p>\n
WYldlife Fund Vice President Breanna Ball\u00a0told Cowboy State Daily that her group and others are determined to see the project through.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s in a crowded field of requests for federal money.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are needs for wildlife crossings all over the West, and even across the country, so there is lots of competition (for grants),\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Saving Wildlife Near Kemmerer<\/p>\n
The project on Highway 189 involves a 30-mile stretch between Evanston and Kemmerer, where traffic has taken a heavy toll on mule deer, elk and pronghorn.<\/p>\n
It will include seven wildlife underpasses, an overpass\u00a0and 63 miles of 8-foot-tall deer fence to help guide wildlife to the safe crossings, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation.<\/p>\n
The highway there cuts through\u00a0a vital migration route for the Wyoming Range mule deer herd, considered by hunters to be among the most prized of Wyoming\u2019s wildlife.<\/p>\n
The herd typically spends the summer and fall in the Wyoming Range mountains, and then winters\u00a0on the vast flats between the Wyoming Range and Wind River mountains.<\/p>\n
Along U.S. 189, state Game and Fish officials say an average of 80 deer-vehicle collisions are reported there annually, although that number is likely underreported.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Holding Out Hope For Dubois<\/p>\n
The Dubois project would help secure a vital migration route for mule deer between summer range in the Grand Teton area, and winter range on the Wind River Indian Reservation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWYDOT did submit for a federal BUILD grant for the Dubois wildlife crossing project design work, and while the agency was\u00a0awarded two BUILD grants in this cycle, the Dubois project was unfortunately not one of the winning awards,\u201d agency spokeswoman Jordan Young stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cWYDOT’s grant writers will continue to submit the project for any eligible federal grants. Since we are pursuing grants for design work, we have no expected date for construction,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Ball said that the WYldlife Fund will keep trying to raise private donations to go toward engineering costs for the Dubois crossing project.<\/p>\n
If detailed engineering plans for the project were available, it could greatly increase the chances of landing a federal grant for construction costs, she said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Blinding Flash Of The Obvious\u2019<\/p>\n
Retired Game and Fish habitat manager and wildlife biologist Walt Gasson told Cowboy State Daily that seeking federal grants can be frustrating.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to convince some people, and sometimes those people hold purse strings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There should be no doubt that the Dubois wildlife crossings are needed, Gasson said \u2014 not only to spare wildlife, but also for human safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t count the number of times I\u2019ve had near-misses with deer between Dubois and Burris, especially at night,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Protecting wildlife also protects Wyoming\u2019s economy, Gasson added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is most assuredly not just a \u2018feel good\u2019 project,\u201d\u00a0he said. “This is about what Wyoming\u2019s people bring to the table for the country, and that\u2019s free-ranging wildlife.”<\/p>\n
\u201cThe easiest thing to see is dead critters. What you don\u2019t see is loss of revenue to communities like Dubois. What is Dubois\u2019 claim to fame? Wild things in wild places.\u201d<\/p>\n
The key will be getting federal grant managers to see things that way, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to convince somebody who doesn\u2019t understand Wyoming and our reliance on the tourism economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Given the factors of economy, wildlife protection and public safety, the need for the Dubois crossings should be \u201ca blinding flash of the obvious,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s cause for Wyoming wildlife advocates to celebrate \u2014 and be frustrated \u2014 as one major wildlife crossing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-765147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=765147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/765147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/765148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=765147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=765147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=765147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}