Tell Your Representatives to Support H.B.431 - Wildlife Crossing Amendments

H.B. 431 Wildlife Crossing Amendments (sponsored by Representative Scott Chew) creates an ongoing, dedicated state fund to support wildlife crossings and highway mitigation efforts.

 

The legislation allocates $2 million annually from the Transportation Infrastructure Fund to this new account, with 10% of the funding allocation supporting livestock highway safety projects. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) and Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) have prioritized a list of wildlife highway mitigation projects based on objective measures (i.e. volume of collisions, known migration corridors, collaring data, etc.) for which these funds would support.

 

Potential wildlife highway mitigation projects would include overpasses, underpasses, directional/exclusion fencing, wildlife-friendly rangeland fencing, and escape ramps. The bill would also permit this funding to be utilized for culverts for fish passage projects across roadways. Further, the monies in this fund could be leveraged for federal grant matching opportunities, expanding the state's investment capability in wildlife highway mitigation efforts.