Links

British Columbia

• The Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Transportation, Environmental Management Section has a mandate to develop and maintain policies, standards, specifications and procedures on highway related environmental matters. The BC Ministry of Transportation (BC MoT) website has information on exclusion fencing, wildlife reflectors, and wildlife warning signs.
  
  The BC MoT administers the Wildlife Accident Reporting System (WARS). The WARS system is designed to analyze wildlife accident data collected by BC Highways Maintenance Contractors on numbered highways in British Columbia. It is a valuable information resource.
  
  The latest WARS report WARS 1983-2002, Wildlife Accident Reporting and Mitigation in British Columbia, Special Annual Report is available on the BC MoT website.
  
  Further information can be obtained from:
  Environmental Management Section
  Engineering Branch
  BC Ministry of Transportation
  4B - 940 Blanshard Street
  PO Box 9850 STN PROV GOVT
  Victoria BC Canada
  V8W 9T5

   

• The Government of British Columbia, Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection has developed a Wildlife-Human Conflict Prevention Strategy which identified wildlife vehicle collisions as an area of conflict.

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Alberta

• The Government of Alberta, Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development has information posted on their website. Fact Sheet: Animal-Vehicle Collisions
• The Government of Alberta, Ministry of Transportation posts annual collision statistics on their website.
  
  For further information contact:
  Alberta Transportation
  Driver Safety, Research and Traffic Safety Initiative
  Transportation Safety Services Division
  Main Floor, Twin Atria Building
  4999 – 98 Avenue
  Edmonton, Alberta
  T6B 2X3

 

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Ontario

The Ontario Road Ecology Group is comprised of government and non-government scientists, educators, and transportation planners.Their goal is to raise awareness about the threat of roads to biodiversity in Ontario, and to research and apply solutions.

 

Details of the Ontario Road Ecology Stewardship Symposium & Habitat Connectivity Workshop, held April 23 & 24, 2008 are available. The workshop had three objectives:

• To identify road mortality hotspots within core areas for target species 
•  To plan regional habitat connectivity in the landscape
•  To Prioritize locations for mitigation measures

Details of the Ontario Roads & Ecopassages Forum, held March 20 - 22, 2007 are also available. The forum consisted of a series of moderated presentations followed by open discussions about designing and planning locations of road networks, and developing a framework for ecologically sound, feasible, and cost-effective designs for ecopassages. Forum presentations focussed on mitigating road effects on species-at-risk populations in southern Ontario.

 

 

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New Brunswick

• Departments of Public Safety and Transportation

• Moose-Vehicle Collision Poster

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Manitoba

• Manitoba Public Insurance

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Newfoundland and Labrador

• Department of Transportation and Works

• Department of Environment and Conservation 

 

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Canada

• Parks Canada has a published guide book to the Mountain National Parks. The Mountain Guide contains useful information on avoiding wildlife near the road.
  
  Parks Canada has researched and  implemented many wildlife mitigation methods in the Mountain Parks along the Trans-Canada highway.

   

• The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) is a national association with a mission to promote the provision of safe, efficient, effective and environmentally and financially sustainable transportation services in support of Canada's social and economic goals. In Canada as a whole, TAC has a primary focus on roadways and their strategic linkages and inter-relationships with other components of the transportation system. TAC hosts an annual conference on transportation issues.
  
  TAC 2003
  Wildlife-Vehicle Accident Prevention Program researchers attended the Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) Annual Conference and Exhibition, held in St. John's Newfoundland, September 21-24, 2003. The theme of this conference was "The Transportation Factor" and the conference was designed to focus attention on may road and transportation topics as well as the importance of transport sector in our daily lives. 
  
  Sylvan Consulting Ltd. hosted a workshop on Wildlife-Vehicle Accident Mitigation. Topics discussed were:

1. To familiarize participants with the scope of the wildlife vehicle accident problem.
2. To review and assess current accident mitigation techniques.
3. To develop improved multi-disciplinary communication around the wildlife vehicle accident issue
4. To develop directions for future research.

A summary of the discussions is provided. [PDF - 12kb]

TAC 2005

The 2005 TAC conference and exhibition was held in Calgary, Alberta, September 18-21, 2005. The theme selected for the event was Transportation: Investing in Our Future.

 

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United States

• The North Carolina State University based Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) conducts research, education, and technical assistance projects on a wide variety of surface transportation issues. ITRE provides quality end products and technical support that improve the transportation systems of the region and nation.

   

• The federally funded Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) conducts research, education, and technology transfer that seek to mitigate the impacts of surface transportation on the environment. CTE is a national university transportation center, funded in part by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the North Carolina Department of Transportation. CTE is located in the offices of the Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) on North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus.

   

• The Deer-Vehicle Crash Information Clearinghouse (DVCIC) is a project funded by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation that cooperatively involves committee members from the natural resources and transportation departments of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.  DVCIC is located at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

   

• The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration website, Critter Crossings, describes the impact of transportation on wildlife and highlights exemplary projects and processes that are helping to reduce these impacts.

   

• The U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration website Keeping It Simple - Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads provides more examples of how transportation agencies are reducing highways' impact on wildlife and fish in the United States.

   

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service website Wildlife Crossings Toolkit is a searchable database of case histories of mitigation measures, and articles on decreasing wildlife mortality and increasing animals' ability to cross highways. The Toolkit project was initiated by the USDA Forest Service, San Dimas Technology and Development Center. Other partners include the Federal Highway Administration and Western Transportation Institute.

   

• The mission of the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) is to advance rural transportion through research and education. WTI is located at Montana State University - Bozeman. 

   

• The messsage of the Iowa Department of Public Safety website is Don't Veer For Deer and its goals are to make the driving public more aware of the problem of deer crossing the highway and the proper action to take to reduce their risk of injury or death.

   

   

• The Ecostudies Institute is a nonprofit organization committed to ecological research and conservation, which carries out programs of rigorous scientific research, on-the-ground management, and education and outreach.  Ecostudies Institute is currently working with the Oregon Department of Transportation on a project that builds on an earlier study of hot pots for animal/vehicle collisions (Wildlife Hot Spots Along Highways in Northwestern Oregon).

   

• Defenders of Wildlife Habitat & Highways Campaign has two objectives: 

1. Reduce the impact of roads and highways on wildlife and habitat. Existing roads should be modified where necessary to allow wildlife to cross, and minimize impact on the surrounding environment. 
2. Reduce future impacts by incorporating wildlife conservation into transportation planning. Future road development should avoid wildlife habitats and environmentally sensitive places.

Defenders of Wildlife has released a new book, Getting Up To Speed: A Conservationist’s Guide to Wildlife and Highways. The handbook is written for conservationists to provide the necessary foundation to become better informed, more effective stakeholders in transportation debates.

• Conducted every two years, the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET) is designed to address the broad range of ecological issues related to surface transportation development, providing the most current research information and best practices in the areas of wildlife, fisheries, wetlands, water quality, overall ecosystems management, and related policy issues. ICOET is a multi-disciplinary, inter-agency supported event, administered by the Center for Transportation and the Environment. This international conference brings together key organizers and researchers who are working to reduce the ecological impacts of transportation. 
  

   

• American Wildlands’ Safe Passages program addresses the negative impacts of major highways on wildlife and their movements through key travel corridors in the U.S. Northern Rockies. The Safe Passages program was established to help improve the policies and practices that guide the development of highway crossing structures and other wildlife/vehicle mitigation measures. Safe Passages was written for engineers, biologists, and conservationists in the Western United States and Canada who are working in the field on wildlife crossings on a day-to-day basis. Safe Passage addresses the technical aspects of creating the most ecologically effective and economically efficient wildlife crossings structures. You will find practical information on tools for connectivity planning, types of wildlife crossings, and design guidelines for carnivores and other wildlife.  
   
• The Berryman Institute is a national organization based in the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University and the Department of Wildlife & Fisheries at Mississippi State University. The Berryman Institute is dedicated to improving human-wildlife relationships and resolving human-wildlife conflicts through teaching, research, and extension. The Berryman Institute publishes the Human-Wildlife Conflicts Journal, and Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 2008 was dedicated to wildlife vehicle collisions. 
  

   

•  FHWA has launched a new Web site on “Planning and Environment Linkages.” The site offers a wealth of information, developed and compiled by the FHWA and its partners, to assist in strengthening planning and environment linkages, including:

• • The benefits of using a Planning and Environment Linkages approach.
    Some first steps for getting started, including a list of activities to help you begin.

  • Effective Practices from states nationwide, including case studies and FHWA-sponsored Workshops

  • Additional resources that are related to planning and environment linkages.

  • Relevant SAFETEA-LU provisions.

• The information in Arizona's Wildlife Linkages Assessment can help state/federal agencies, county planners, land conservancies, tribes, private landowners and other organizations work together with a comprehensive, landscape-scale approach toward conservation and highway safety goals, while accomodating the growth of Arizona's population, an expanding economy, and associated infrastructure.

• Kennedy Space Centre has a roadkill prevention program called the Avian Abatement Team (commonly known as the Roadkill Posse). KSC is adjacent to a National Wildilfe Refuge, which incurs animal mortality due to wildlife collisions. This roadkill attracts black vultures, which can jeopardize the safety of the Space Shuttle operations.    

   

Space Shuttle launching with circling Black Vultures Photo www.icoet.com

 

 

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Europe

• Infra Eco Network Europe (IENE), established in 1996, is a European network of authorities and experts involved in the phenomena of habitat fragmentation caused by the construction and use of linear transport infrastructure, especially motorways, railways and canals.
  
  IENE Conference 2003

A Wildlife-Vehicle Accident Prevention Program partner, Sylvan Consulting Ltd, presented a research paper on the Wildlife Protection System and a poster [PDF - 676kb] on Collision Risk Behaviour in Deer at the Infra Eco Network Europe Conference 2003 in Belgium on November 13, 14, and 15, 2003.

 

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Britain

• Deer Collisions UK, is part of The Deer Initiative, which is a broad partnership of statutory, voluntary and private interests dedicated to "ensuring the delivery of a sustainable, well-managed wild deer population in England and Wales."
  
  The aims of Deer Collisions UK are:

1. to build a National Database of Road Traffic Collisions involving deer in England, Wales and Scotland
2. to assess factors associated with deer RTAs, and aspects of deer behaviour and management to investigate and enhance measures aimed at preventing such accidents

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