Approximately a dozen lawmakers, wildlife and transportation officials stood along a southwest highway, sinking their new, sparkling gold shovels into the dirt.
“We’ll turn some dirt and get this project started,” said Darin Westby, Wyoming Department of Transportation director, to a small crowd last week.
It’s the beginning of the Highway 189 South Kemmerer Wildlife Crossing project. Wyoming has several other completed projects, but future efforts are uncertain due to federal funding changes.
The Highway 189 plan includes 30 miles of new fencing, seven wildlife underpasses, and one overpass between Evanston and Kemmerer.
When completed in the fall of 2027, it should put an end to the majority of wildlife-car collisions. According to experts, this type of infrastructure, which funnels big game through under or overpasses rather than on the road, can reduce car collisions by up to 90%.
“Thank you to all who have a vision of a Wyoming where we don’t hit wildlife on the roads anymore,” said Sarah DiRienzo, senior policy advisor to Gov. Mark Gordon.
The federal government funded the majority of the approximately $32 million project. It was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Transportation’s Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program for 2022-23. The federal program began in 2021 to reduce wildlife collisions and improve habitat connectivity.
“In creating the Wildlife Crossing Program, Congress found that there are more than 1,000,000 wildlife vehicle collisions annually which present a danger to human safety and wildlife survival, cost over $8 billion, and result in approximately tens of thousands of serious injuries and hundreds of fatalities on U.S. roadways,” according to the program’s online presence.
However, the program is funded by the Biden-era Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which has been the target of President Trump’s federal cuts and funding freezes. This included stalling federal funding for future crossings.
Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce said the state and private donors are working hard to make the Dubois effort a reality, but they still need assistance.
“We are asking our federal delegation to recognize all these efforts and create a sustainable federal funding source that we will need in order to do the next projects as well,” Mr. Bruce said.
The Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program could have done just that, but Wyoming did not receive funding for the project this year. The program didn’t accept applications earlier this summer.
