JACKSON, Wyo. — Teton County Public Works is hoping to fundraise for three Teton County wildlife crossings during this year’s Old Bill’s giving season.
The Board of County Commissioners approved the department’s request to submit a grant application to the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, producers of the annual Old Bill’s Fun Run and associated grant program.
While this is a first for Public Works, the The Jackson/Teton County Affordable Housing Department, Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling (ISWR) and Teton County/Jackson Parks & Recreation Departments have historically applied for and received funding through Old Bill’s.
The Community Foundation is currently reviewing applications ahead of Old Bill’s Giving Season, which runs from Aug. 15 to Sept. 12 this year.
The three wildlife crossing corridors, identified in the 2018 Wildlife Crossings Master Plan and currently 30% designed, thanks to 2019 SPET funds, are located on US89 from the Town of Jackson to Fish Hatchery Hill, Camp Creek area along US191 from Hoback Junction to Stinking Springs, and along WY22 on the west side of Teton Pass, from the Idaho State line, east to Mail Cabin Creek.
Buckrail spoke with Public Works Project Manager Chris Colligan about the project and pending application.
Colligan explained that the three corridors were identified as priorities because they do not align with any current or upcoming Wyoming Department of Transportation projects.
“We don’t have enough funding remaining in SPET to cover any one of the projects, so what we have been doing is applying for grants and using the local funds as the required match,” Colligan said.
The 2019 SPET item, which received 80% of voter support and set aside $10 million for wildlife crossing projects in the county, has about $8 million remaining in the fund, Colligan said. Funds have supported two of the four wildlife crossings at the intersection WY22/390, and the 30% design of the three priority crossing corridors.
According to the mitigation plan for each project, the average annual cost of reported vehicle wildlife collisions in Teton County is conservatively estimated at $10.3 million, including human injuries and fatalities, vehicle repair costs and the passive use values of wildlife.
The project on US89 from mile marker 155 to 159 proposes two underpasses and one overpass along with fencing, some of which has already been installed. The West Side of Teton Pass plan calls for four crossings, one overpass, three underpasses and an aquatic culvert replacement at Coal Creek, along with fencing from Mail Cabin Trailhead to Trail Creek Campground . In Hoback Canyon, the project includes four crossings, one overpass, three underpasses, improvements to the Hoback River Bridge and fencing on both sides of the highway from mile marker 157.8 in Hoback Canyon to Hoback Junction. All three projects include deer guards, jump outs to allow animals inside the right-of-way to escape back into habitat, and recreation gates to provide public access at necessary locations.
According to a Nevada Department of Transportation report on the cost-benefit analysis of mitigation measures along highways for large animal species, wildlife fencing and crossing reduce collisions by 80 to 90%.
Colligan said “any option is on the table” when it comes to funding these corridors. The Public Works department has been applying to state and federal funding for the projects, and Colligan says private philanthropy has historically helped projects similar to these, get built.
He explained that the Colorado Highway 9 Wildlife Crossing project completed in 2016 is a great example of private philanthropy lifting up the project; a contribution of $10 million got the $40 million project off the ground, which includes two overpasses and five underpasses along the corridor to connect wildlife to habitat.
“These projects are bipartisan, nobody wants to hit a deer or a bear or a moose on their way home from work, picking up the kids, or going to the airport,” Colligan said. “It turns maybe your best day into your worst day and it affects all of us. It really is of high value to society to complete this work, not to mention the safety aspects.”
