DWR, UDOT and other partners complete 5 projects, 2 studies to help wildlife and fish safely migrate across Utah in 2024

Salt Lake City — The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Utah Department of Transportation, as well as other partners, are working hard to reduce wildlife/vehicle collisions around the state and to also make it easier for wildlife and fish to make their important annual migrations. In 2024, the agencies and other partners installed several different structures and completed a few studies to help wildlife and fish migrate safely in various areas throughout Utah.

Utah Wildlife Migration Initiative

The Utah Wildlife Migration Initiative was founded in 2017 to better track and study the migration patterns of different wildlife and fish species in the state and to help them make those important journeys. Most of the data comes from animals wearing GPS tracking devices or from fish tagged with implanted transmitters.

"The tracking data helps us understand when and where animals are moving and helps us determine critical areas for wildlife migration," DWR Migration Initiative Coordinator Makeda Hanson said. "Connecting wildlife through all their crucial seasonal ranges is accomplished through making habitat improvements; maintaining areas for feeding, rest and cover; removing barriers or impediments to wildlife movement; and incorporating wildlife into land-use planning for activities like recreation and development. Wildlife crossings, when constructed strategically, are really important for maintaining wildlife connectivity across the landscape and tying together all the other work happening to benefit wildlife in Utah."

The fish and wildlife structures that assist migration vary and can include:

• Overpasses, which allow wildlife to cross over a roadway.
• Bridges, which allow vehicles to cross over a river or ravine, while wildlife travel underneath the bridge.
• Culverts, which allow wildlife to cross under a roadway — these make up the majority of Utah's wildlife crossings.
• Fences, which prevent wildlife from crossing roadways in certain areas and instead funnel the animals to an overpass or culvert, where they can safely cross a road.
• Various "fish ladders" and other structures in rivers and streams that help fish move up and downstream to meet their life history needs.
• Fish "barriers," which are structures that prevent fish from migrating into areas of rivers that are harmful and don't help them complete their life cycles (or where they may compete with or be preyed on by non-native fish species).

"Utah made history when it completed the first wildlife overpass in the U.S. in 1975 on I-15 near Beaver," DWR Wildlife Impact Analysis Coordinator Daniel Olson said. "Since then, dozens of projects have been completed around the state that allow the passage of wildlife and fish. These structures typically take several months to build, depending on the size and weather conditions, and they can take several years of prior planning and collaboration. We are so grateful for the partnerships we have with various state agencies, land-management agencies, private landowners and other organizations to implement these important structures for fish and wildlife around the state."

Here are the areas where the DWR, UDOT and other partners completed new projects to assist with wildlife and fish migration in 2024:

Central Utah

• During Gov. Cox's Month of Service Initiative, UDOT program development staff repaired approximately 1 mile of fence on and near the Parleys Summit wildlife crossing.
• Eagle Mountain City, along with the Mountainland Association of Governments, constructed a wildlife underpass beneath Airport Road, as part of the ongoing migration plan to allow continued deer movements in growing Eagle Mountain.
• A wildlife-vehicle collision mitigation study was conducted for SR-248 and is nearing completion.

Northern Utah

• The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation partnered with the DWR to install 3 new miles of wildlife fencing at Echo Junction. The project helps funnel wildlife to existing underpasses and also under the Weber River bridge to assist in their migrations. It was completed in November 2024.
• Repairs were made to seven miles of existing fencing in Sardine Canyon. This project is still underway.
• A fish passage project along South Fork Junction Creek was completed in west Box Elder County, which reconnected over 25 miles of stream corridor.

Southern Utah

• A wildlife-vehicle collision mitigation study was conducted for SR-18, which was completed in July 2024. One of the recommendations from the study was to deploy seasonal driver alerts, in an effort to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. Currently, UDOT has a changeable message board alerting drivers of deer crossings in areas with a high number of wildlife-vehicle collisions along SR-18 near Dammeron Valley.

"We are really excited about the grants that we have been able to secure to establish more wildlife crossings across Utah, in conjunction with the migration data provided by the DWR," UDOT Natural Resource Manager Matt Howard said. "We've learned a lot about these funding processes and are hopeful that we can continue to obtain the necessary funding to implement additional wildlife structures across the state to keep wildlife and drivers safe."

Upcoming projects

Funding has been secured for some upcoming projects, as well. Here's a look at a few of those:

• In December 2023, the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program awarded UDOT $5.5 million — in addition to $400,000 that the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and conservation groups had contributed to DWR through a grant and external conservation permit funding and $4.5 million that UDOT contributed — for the construction of additional wildlife underpasses and fencing along US-89 near Kanab. Work on the project planning began in 2024, with construction tentatively scheduled for later this year.
• In January 2025, UDOT was awarded a $9.6 million federal grant to make wildlife safety improvements along US-40 in Wasatch and Duchesne counties, including adding 23 miles of wildlife fencing along US-40, retrofitting three existing wildlife underpasses and adding one new underpass from Fruitland to Starvation Reservoir.
• A new project to install wildlife fencing on I-15 (between mileposts 18-22, near Quail Creek State Park) is underway and will be completed this year. Additional wildlife fencing along I-15 near Fillmore is anticipated, as well.

Visit the DWR website to learn more about how these wildlife solutions are funded and listen to the DWR Wild podcast to learn how the locations are selected.