VA Wildlife Corridors - Support HB 597

Virginia has a wildlife corridor plan and a wildlife-vehicle collision problem large enough to demand follow-through. More than 60,000 known deer-vehicle collisions have occurred annually in Virginia since 2015, costing the Commonwealth and its citizens approximately $533,000,000 each year. 

 

In response, Delegate Shelly Simonds introduced HB 597 to create the Wildlife Corridor Grant Fund, a dedicated, non-reverting account designed to move Virginia from planning toward implementation. The bill frames corridors as public safety infrastructure and conservation infrastructure at the same time: fewer crashes, less property damage, fewer emergency responses, and better habitat connectivity for the wildlife populations that sustain Virginia's hunting, angling, and outdoor recreation traditions.

 

HB 597 establishes a Wildlife Corridor Grant Fund administered by the Department of Wildlife Resources in consultation with partner agencies. It authorizes grants to eligible applicants, including state agencies, localities, metropolitan planning organizations, regional transportation authorities, Tribes, nonprofits, and academic institutions. 

 

Grant criteria in the bill focuses on whether a project advances priorities identified in the Wildlife Corridor Action Plan, reduces high-cost wildlife-vehicle collisions, connects protected areas, benefits priority wildlife, and leverages available federal funding.  That structure reinforces science-based prioritization rather than one-off projects driven by politics or convenience.

 

The bill also recognizes that early progress is not always concrete and steel. HB 597 allows funding for activities like data collection, feasibility studies, designs and plans, infrastructure monitoring, and the matching funds that are often required to unlock federal grants. 

 

Click here to read more about HB 597 and our position.