Pew's video: How Wildlife Crossings Protect Migrating Animals in Nevada

Across the country, drivers hit 1 to 2 million animals each year, according to a Federal Highway Administration report. Approximately 200 people die (as do most of those animals), 30,000 more are injured, and the cost to all of us is upward of $8 billion. But some states, like Nevada, are working to change that. We talk to Nova Simpson, biological supervisor for the Nevada Department of Transportation, about how the state has found success in building wildlife crossings, keeping both animals and humans safe. Read the full story: https://pew.org/32WgHmx **** TRANSCRIPT A lot of people when they come through, they think of Nevada as just kind of a dry, boring, mundane state I did grow up in Nevada, so this is definitely what I call home. It's one of the most mountainous states in the US. And no matter where you go, you always have mountain vistas. It's kind of a spiritual thing for me when you get away from all the activity of life. And you just become grounded again with the natural environment. Nova Simpson Biological Supervisor for Northern Nevada, Nevada Department of Transportation My name is Nova Simpson. I work for the Nevada Department of Transportation as a biologist, and I specialize in road ecology. Road ecology in its simplest definition is how roads impact animals' movement, behavior, as well as their population health. Roadways create quite a barrier for a lot of different animals. Animal-vehicle collisions really are a big problem across the US, especially as we start to expand into these environments with the population growth that we're seeing. We spend eight billion dollars a year just in the US on animal-vehicle collisions, 200 human deaths and tens of thousands of injuries. As a biologist, we always strive to do what's right for wildlife, as well as ourselves and humans and safety. The way we investigate migrations is we utilize various data. We can use GPS data by putting collars on animals. We can also look at where collisions are happening. And it helps us determine how we need to address some of these problems that we're having along our roadways. Sometimes when you show up, you’ll actually see mule deer come down along the tree line here. And they’ll cross right underneath the bridge. A crossing structure is a structure that allows an animal to cross either over or under the roadway, completely removing them out of harm's way and out of the way of motorists. This is a good example of a structure where we made some minor modifications for animal movement. Since we knew we had deer movement in this area, we just pushed the rock back just a little bit just to provide a pathway. We can see how successful it’s been just by how many tracks are here. Our largest landscape scale project is in Northeast Nevada. It goes over US 93 and Interstate 80 and focuses on mule deer migration between their seasonal summer and winter ranges. But it's not always on a large scale. We've also been trying to integrate some small techniques that might help with animal passage, such as fencing or small dirt pathways under an existing bridge that allows for animal movement, for maybe some of the smaller animals like desert tortoise. When you first see an animal using a structure for the first time, it's really kind of exciting, especially when you've been involved from the very beginning of a project. It takes years for planning of these structures. So, to document that just shows that all your energy and effort was worth it. Animal-vehicle collisions really are a topic that has an easy answer. We know how to stop it. Removing the animals from the roadway and providing them a safe crossing, really does eliminate the problem. I really do love what I do. Not only is it something that saves people's lives and makes our roadways safer, but I really do believe it helps the ecosystem as a whole. It creates a safe place for animals to cross over roads, which ultimately helps biodiversity, as well as genetic diversity. As stewards of the land, I feel like it's a responsibility that we have to take on the more we expand into these wild lands. pewtrusts.org/wildlifecrossings Footage: NineCaribou Productions Getty Images Pond5 Music: Audio Network Thanks to: Nevada Department of Transportation