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Spring 2020 |
Newsletter Archive |
Citizens help inform road mitigation needs for wildlife in the Elk Valley | ![]() |
![]() The results are in - we used 1,500 wildlife observations reported by citizens to help identify where road mitigation measures could improve human and wildlife safety. RoadWatchBC, a citizen science program, was developed by Miistakis Institute, Wildsight and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, to monitor wildlife along highways; grow community knowledge and support for wildlife mitigation; and build relationships with agencies responsible for roads and wildlife. After three years of data collection we analyzed the data and identified road sections with high levels of wildlife activity. The RoadWatchBC Program data was used to inform an update to the 2010 released "Highway 3: Transportation Mitigation for Wildlife and Connectivity" (see the amendment). Since this time British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure with support from British Columbia Forestry Lands Natural Resources and Development are actively seeking to implement a number of mitigation measures at key sites along the stretch of highway between the Alberta/British Columbia border and Sparwood. This includes consideration of an overpass at Alexander Michel Creek to help facilitate movement of large bodied mammals. Thank you TECK, Vancouver Foundation, Patagonia Environmental Grants Fund of Tides Foundation and Chawkers Foundation for supporting RoadWatchBC. | |