EDITORIAL: Embrace corridors for wildlife
Sep. 28—Highway collisions between vehicles and animals are bad all around.
According to an analysis by Pew researchers, vehicles hit large animals on highways up to 2 million times each year, resulting in 200 human deaths (between eight and nine in Pennsylvania), 26,000 injuries and $8 billion in property damage.
State Farm Insurance has calculated that Pennsylvania drivers have a 1-in-54 chance of colliding with an animal while driving.
Pennsylvania drivers filed 166,000 vehicle damage claims resulting from animal collisions between July 2020 and June 2021.
So vehicle-wildlife collisions are a significant problem.
That's why the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 includes $350 million over five years for wildlife corridors that enable animals to avoid highways that cut across their habitats. They can include highway overpasses, culverts and wooded areas connecting isolated habitats.
The problem is especially severe in several Western states. In Wyoming, for example, animal collisions account for 20% of all vehicle crashes.
That state and others, including Colorado, have used wildlife corridors to reduce the frequency of those collisions — in some areas by as much as 80%.
State and municipal governments can apply for corridor grants, but to be eligible they first must present a study detailing the nature and severity of the problem in each location and the likelihood of a wildlife corridor to mitigate it.
The Legislature should fund such a study in the name of public safety, environmental stewardship, wildlife protection and the state's $12 billion-a-year outdoor recreation industry.
