Work Needed to Maintain Safe Passages for Wildlife (Editorial by Tom Skeele, AWL Executive Director, in the Bozeman [MT] Daily Chronicle, March 1, 2008)

“Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side, of course.” This well-known one-liner is also appropriate for deer, elk, moose, bears, cougars and other wildlife as they move about the landscape from habitat to habitat. Just as people must to be able to safely travel from one town to another to meet our needs, wide ranging animals must be able to safely travel between important habitats to meet their needs — whether it be across public lands, private lands or busy highways.

(Read more )

Children to Draw Pictures for Wildlife (AWL Press Release, January 21, 2008)

Bozeman and Livingston, Montana - Gallatin and Park County students are being asked to draw pictures illustrating safer passages for both people and wildlife on Bozeman Pass. A panel of community leaders including Congressman Rehberg and Senator Baucus will select six winning designs for display in local businesses and placement on billboards along Interstate 90 between Bozeman and Livingston.

(Read more)

Guard Awaits Biathlon Course Decision (Helena [MT] Independent Record, January 17, 2008)

A biathlon course atop MacDonald Pass west of Helena won’t have any significant impacts, according to a Montana Army National Guard study, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the $1.5 million project will be implemented.

(Read the full story)

As Cars Hit More Animals on Roads, Toll Rises (New York Times, December 22, 2007)

American Wildlands, through our Safe Passages program, helps secure funding for road ecology research performed by the Western Transportation Institute (WTI), an organization nationally renowned for its experience in rural transportation research and education. Road ecology, a relatively new field of science, studies the often complex interaction between roads and the environment. WTI shares its road ecology research findings with American Wildlands, providing us with a solid foundation from which we build community outreach projects including the Student Art Contest and I-Spy on the Pass. The public awareness raised by these projects along with WTIs research findings increase American Wildlands' effectiveness at advocating changes in policies and procedures important in making our rails and roads safer for people and wildlife.

(Read the New York Times article)

County chips in for elk underpass (Kalispell [MT] Daily Inter Lake, November 28, 2007)

Conservationists and officials now need to raise less than $10,000 to get a wildlife crossing incorporated into a Montana Department of Transportation shoulder-widening project planned for Montana 206 north of Fairview Crossroad.

(Read the full story)

Groups Fund Study of Wastewater Issues in Big Sky (Bozeman [MT] Daily Chronicle, October 29, 2007)

A coalition of groups ranging from environmentalists to developers have agreed provide up to $60,000 to pay for a wastewater study in the Big Sky area, in an effort to protect the Gallatin River.

(Read the full story)

Biathlon Facility bad for Wildlife (Helena [MT] Independent Record, August 23, 2007)

The Continental Divide is a special part of the western United States, a place of scenic beauty best enjoyed by traditional recreation activities such as hiking, hunting and horseback riding.

For years, families and outdoor enthusiasts from the Helena area have enjoyed winter skiing and summer hiking the trails at MacDonald Pass, our easiest point of access to the Divide.

(Read the full editorial)

Making I-90 Safer (August 13, 2007)

Regarding the July 28 article about deer-related traffic accidents: While I suspect the Chronicle ran the story because of the reference to the Bozeman-based Western Transportation Institute, I also found it pertinent given the work that the Department of Transportation (MDT) has recently done on Bozeman Pass.

(Read the full letter to the editor)

Innovative Ideas make the World Safer for Wildlife (May 12, 2007)

I do not know about you, but I am a bit of a softie when it comes to animals, and I always experience sadness and regret when I see dead wildlife along the roadsides. Obviously, roads and cars are something that wildlife is never going to perceive as dangerous and they will continue to run to their deaths on our roads. Our great mobility and increasing numbers are taking a serious toll on many species.

(Read the full editorial)

Underpass Aims to Help Wildlife (April 3, 2007)

BOZEMAN - Government, environmental groups and private landowners are working together on an experimental project to reduce road kill as animals travel between the Greater Yellowstone area and protected lands to the north.

(Read the full story)

Gallatin Groups to Cooperate (January, 24 2007)

BIG SKY - After years of wrangling, environmental groups seeking state protection for the Gallatin River have decided to work with developers to protect the river while still preserving property rights.

(Read the full story)

Solutions for Safety (January, 11 2007)

NINEMILE - Cayuse Hill is a killer.

For as long as anyone can remember, wildlife have ventured down a narrow game trail to the edge of Interstate 90, just a few hundred yards short of the Ninemile interchange. Their approach to the busy interstate shielded by a large highway sign, the deer, elk or bear might have paused for a moment before stepping onto the asphalt en route to the other side.

Sometimes they made it. Too often they didn't.

(Read the full story)