How much do human–wildlife crashes really cost us? Patty Cramer shares the staggering numbers and what transportation ecology can do to change them.
🎧 New Our Wild Lives episode featuring TWS members Renee Callahan from @arc.solutions and Patty Cramer from @wildlife.connectivity : Bridging the Gap: Transportation Ecology. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts!
Podcast cover image: A black bear uses a wildlife underpass on Colorado State Highway 9. Credit: Colorado DOT/Colorado Parks & Wildlife/Eco-resolutions/P. Cramer
Three years ago, we lost P-22 but his legacy continues…
P-22 became a powerful symbol of what happens when wildlife is forced to navigate a fragmented landscape and of what’s possible when people come together to change it. His story helped make the invisible visible: roads as barriers, and connectivity as essential infrastructure for both wildlife and people.
In remembering P-22, we’re reminded that every place has its own P-22s — a moose, a bear, a salamander — whose journeys can inspire action and investment in safer crossings.
These stories build shared understanding and accelerate solutions that reconnect habitats and reduce risk for everyone who shares the landscapes we call home. The responsibility now is to carry the lesson of P-22’s story forward: turning inspiration into crossings on the ground, and ensuring safe passage for wildlife and people alike.
@p22mountainlion@wildlifecrossings@yosemitebethy@sharon.guynup@stevewinterphoto
Reps. Ryan Zinke (MT) and Don Beyer (VA) have introduced the Wildlife Road Crossings Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 — a major step toward making long-term, dedicated funding for wildlife crossings permanent.
This legislation strengthens and extends the highly successful Wildlife Crossings Program, which helps states, Tribes, and local communities invest in overpasses, underpasses, culverts, and other measures that reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions while ensuring key migration routes and habitats remain connected.
🚘🦌 Why it matters:
Every 26 seconds a driver collides with a large animal, resulting in 200 lost lives and 30,000 injuries each year, at a cost to Americans of more than $10 billion annually. Proven solutions already exist — and this bill invests in them.
📃 What’s in the bill?
☑️ Makes the Wildlife Crossings Program permanent
☑️ Authorizes $1 billion total in funding through FY 2031
☑️ Provides 100% federal funding for Tribal-led projects
☑️ Creates a dedicated Tribal technical assistance program
☑️ Caps admin costs at 0.5% to maximize funding for real projects
#WildlifeCrossings #HabitatConnectivity #roadecology
WE VISITED LA DURING URBAN WILDLIFE WEEK! 🐾🌱
Last week, EDL Lab Manager Sabrina represented EDL and had the incredible opportunity to visit and drive under the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills for the first time.
Back in 2019, EDL, as a partner of ARC Solutions, was invited by Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation to lead a professional CoLab design workshop for what was then the Highway 101 Wildlife Crossing Project at Liberty Canyon — one of six CoLab's part of our ongoing Safe Passage Project.
Now under construction, the crossing will allow animals to safely cross the 101 Freeway, reconnect habitats, and ensure the survival of wildlife in the Santa Monica Mountains. We’re proud to have helped shape this groundbreaking project early on and to still be part of it today! 💚
For more on the Safe Passage Project, the Liberty Canyon CoLab and the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing, visit the Link in Our Bio! And be sure to stay tuned for more Urban Wildlife Week highlights!
@arc.solutions@p22mountainlion@tmusurp
#SafePassage #UrbanWildlifeWeek #WallisAnnenbergWildlifeCrossing #AgouraHills #LibertyCanyon #SantaMonicaMountains #WildlifeConservation #HabitatConnectivity #NationalWildlifeFederation #WildlifeCorridor #Conservation #CoexistWithWildlife #SustainableDesign #UrbanEcology #WildlifeProtection #ConnectingHabitats #LandscapeArchitecture
After crossing through this bridge, this Tom followed the UT River passing by another 1 of our 128 📸 Behavior wise, what do you see him doing? Pretty cool. 😺🐾
To learn more, check out our Tahoe in Depth article with our amazing partners @trpa_tahoe
Safe passage between habitats is essential for wildlife survival - connecting animals to food, shelter, and mates, while helping them avoid deadly collisions with vehicles. Wildlife crossings make this possible. Learn how these structures are helping species like mountain lions safely move through the Tahoe Basin.
Beyond the well-established benefits of wildlife road crossings and associated infrastructure—improving driver safety, reducing animal mortality, reconnecting habitats—there is another important but often underappreciated benefit: supporting wildlife and ecosystems in adapting to climate change. Link to the full publication in our bio: esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/fee.2816
#WildlifeCrossingWednesday taking a situation where 🦌 can easily wander onto highways and roads, and turning it into one where they can cross safely benefits wildlife and drivers 🚙🛣️
Follow our friends and partners @landtrustscc to learn how we have accomplished that on Highway 17 in the #SantaCruzMountains 🌲 To learn more about #wildlifecrossings and #roadecology follow our friends and partners @wildlifecrossings@arc.solutions & @wildlandsnetwork 🐾 drive safe out there
📣 Our latest research paper is out on landscape connectivity and wildlife crossing infrastructure 🦌 🐾 🚗 In this paper we assessed the potential for legal liability to create incentives for agencies to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. Our @sshrc_crsh -funded research was undertaken through @tmusurp@ecodesignlabtmu together with collaborators @arc.solutions . The research paper is free / open access via #JIWLP link in bio. Thanks to co-authors Renee Callahan, @m4rta.jpg (Marta Brocki), Noah Lister-Stevens and Victoria Blake with editorial help from Sabrina Careri. @tmusurp@tmugraduate@fcstorontomet #wildlifeconnectivity #biodiversity #roadecology #wildlifevehiclecollisions #landscapedesign
Conservation history is being made in Los Angeles, where the world’s LARGEST wildlife crossing is being built over the busy 101 freeway!
The Santa Monica mountains near LA are home to a wide range of wildlife — including coyotes and mountain lions — all cut off from the rest of the world by the city’s massive freeways.
Without improved connectivity, scientists say there is nearly a one-in-four chance that the local mountain lion population will go extinct in the next 50 years. But thanks to the efforts of local conservationists, the community, and a legendary mountain lion, change for the better is finally happening.
Share the story by watching“Cougar Crossing” — now streaming on WildHope.tv and the @PBSNature channel on YouTube.
#WildHope #PBSNature #P22 #CougarCrossing #WildlifeCorridors #HelpBigCatsCrossTheRoad #P22MountainLion #SaveLACougars #NationalWildlifeFederation #NWF #NationalParkService #NPS
Wildways 3.0 Day 1 // Kicking off the #wildways California connectivity road trip at the site of the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing with @yosemitebethy !
@harvardgsd students will consider design for connectivity, resilience, and co-existence for sites and species across California in studio co-taught by @nmlister and @chrisreedstoss 🐾 🦌 🕷️ 🐺 🐍
We applaud Congress and the Biden Administration for delivering on their bipartisan promise to make our nation’s highways safer for people and wildlife through an inaugural investment of nearly $110 million in funding for the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program!
“Almost 10 years ago, a survey of close to 500 state and federal transportation agency representatives identified funding as the number 1 barrier to making a national investment in wildlife crossing structures,” said Renee Callahan, Executive Director of ARC Solutions. “This inaugural round of dedicated Federal funding for wildlife infrastructure is a crucial first step in investing in climate-smart animal road crossing solutions that will improve human safety, reduce wildlife mortality, restore habitat connectivity, and create good-paying local jobs."
🔗 To learn more about funded projects, read the press release linked in our bio.
Day 2: We began the day in Phoenix, Arizona, meeting animals impacted by wildlife-vehicle collisions and rehabilitated by the incredible team at @libertywildlifeaz . Later, in Tucson, we exploredthe Oracle Road wildlife crossings with @azgfd and @sonorandesertprotection . The crossings restore connectivity between the Santa Catalina and the Tortolita mountain ranges and have more than 16,000 unique crossings documented since 2016. Further east, where the I-10 bisects the Peloncillo Mountains, @nmdot explained the impacts of the interstate to bighorn sheep habitat and other desert wildlife.
To learn more visit savelacougars.com/crossingsroadtrip.
