‘Top priority’ site identified between Gallatin Gateway and mouth of Gallatin Canyon
EBS STAFF
Momentum continues to build for the effort to improve wildlife connectivity and reduce vehicle-wildlife collisions on 80 miles of U.S. Highway 191 between Bozeman, Big Sky and West Yellowstone.
In September, the Montana Department of Transportation applied to the Federal Highway Administration’s “highly competitive” Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, requesting $22.8 million for a project including a new wildlife overpass, upgrades to an existing underpass, and a bridge retrofit to allow wildlife to pass safely over and beneath Highway 191, according to an Oct. 9 press release from the nonprofit Center for Large Landscape Conservation.
Federal award decisions should be announced in early 2025.
CLLC has helped lead the effort, working with Montana State University’s Western Transportation Institute to publish a study in September 2023 with recommendations to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions—and improve wildlife habitat connectivity—at 11 locations along Highway 191 and Montana Highway 64 (Lone Mountain Trail) through Big Sky. MDT engaged with CLLC through the Montana Wildlife and Transportation Partnership, created in 2020 to foster collaboration between agencies for similar projects statewide.
Dwane Kailey, COO of MDT, credited CLLC and the partnership for enabling MDT to pursue the grant.
“CLLC conducted a sound assessment, worked with us to develop a viable project solution, and raised the matching funds if we are awarded the grant,” Kailey stated in the release.
To round out the $26 million project, the Federal Highway Administration required a non-federal match of $3.5 million. CLLC led the effort to secure local and regional funding from business, nonprofits and private donors. Most of the $3.5 million match came from Lone Mountain Land Company and Yellowstone Club Community Foundation, according to the release.
“We are glad to be partnering with the Center for Large Landscape Conservation to ensure wildlife connectivity, protect animal populations in the region, and make our roads safer,” a spokesperson from LMLC stated in an email to EBS.
CLLC is still pursuing donations to meet the required non-federal match of $3.5 million. The match must be fully funded by the time the grant is awarded, likely in early 2025.
The application deadline was tight, but CLLC spent the summer ensuring a timely submission.
“We want to make sure that we do not miss this round,” Abigail Breuer, CLLC conservation project specialist, said about the federal pilot program during the Big Sky Resort Area District nonprofit grant allocation meeting on June 4. BSRAD granted $50,000 to CLLC for its action plan implementation, and $179,000 for an engineering feasibility study.
“Due to overwhelming community interest, we took on fundraising and more to ensure a grant application could be submitted,” stated Liz Fairbank, CLLC road ecologist, in the Oct. 9 release. “The generosity of companies, nonprofits, and landowners who care about driver safety as well as safe passage for wildlife has been tremendous.”
Fairbank was the lead author of the 2023 study.
“The aim of the assessment was to provide the data and recommend science-based solutions to help decision-makers address wildlife-vehicle collisions on 191,” Fairbank stated.
Top-priority site: mouth of Gallatin Canyon
Since MDT and CLLC published their 2023 study, they have worked with community partners to conduct an engineering feasibility study for the site identified as the “top priority.”
The location stretches south of Gallatin Gateway to the mouth of Gallatin Canyon, and the potential solution includes structures and associated fencing to allow wildlife to cross over or under Highway 191.
“Wildlife crossings are critical for maintaining the health of our ecosystems and ensuring the safety of both wildlife and motorists,” stated Warren Hansen, FWP Region 3 wildlife manager.
“By providing safe passage across busy roadways, like U.S. 191 south of Gallatin Gateway, we not only reduce vehicle collisions but also promote habitat connectivity, which is essential for sustaining Montana’s rich biodiversity.”
Along the Gallatin River, U.S. Highway 191 cuts through “critical habitat” for resident, wide-ranging, and migratory species in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, but tourism and population growth have led to an increase in vehicle-wildlife collisions, according to the release.
“Within the project area, 24% of all crashes are collisions with wildlife—more than double the statewide average of 10%,” the release stated.
The federal grant application included 23 letters of support from Montana’s congressional representatives, federal, state, and local agencies, sportsmen’s organizations, nonprofits, and landowners, according to the release.
