Funding has now been secured for the construction of a series of highway overpasses in New Mexico making it possible for wildlife to get from one place to another without colliding with vehicles.
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has put her signature to Senate Bill 72, which creates a Wildlife Corridors Action Plan, accompanied by a $5 million appropriation, that will build overpasses to be used by any number of black bears, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and mountain lions.
“Safe, open pathways for wildlife to cross busy roads will not only save lives of the many animals in potential danger, but they will also keep us humans out of harm’s way as well,” remarked Mimi Stewart, the president pro tempore of the Senate and sponsor of the legislation.
Stewart added that with “dedicated state investments in place, federal resources will be more attainable.”
A study conducted last year by the New Mexico Department of Transportation documented up to 1,200 wildlife and vehicle collisions in the state annually, although in some years the collisions have numbered as many as 1,700.
Those accidents cost upwards of $20 million in property damage and other expenses.
That report, the New Mexico Wildlife Corridors Action Plan, also noted that “individual animals and wildlife populations need to move across the landscape to follow seasonal food sources or disperse from their natal area, and human-created barriers pose a threat to those movements.”
The legislation pinpoints nearly a dozen planned overpass projects in various parts of the state described as “high priority” that will not only reduce collisions but will restore habitat connectivity.
New Mexico now joins with 15 other states in the establishment of wildlife connectivity projects.
By Garry Boulard
