BIG PINEY, Wyo. — Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) and WYDOT’s newly completed Dry Piney wildlife crossing project, located on Highway 189 approximately 19 miles between La Barge and Big Piney, is in an established migratory corridor for mule deer and pronghorn.
The underpass, situated in the upper Green River Basin with distant views of the Wind River Range and the Wyoming Range, encourages big game to funnel safely under the highway during annual summer and winter migrations.
The Wyoming Range is crucial winter range for one of the largest mule deer herds in the west. WGFD hopes the wildlife crossing will assist in the recovery of mule deer and pronghorn populations after last year’s extremely cold and snowy winter.
The project includes nine underpasses and 17 miles of 8-foot tall fencing on both sides of U.S. Highway 189.
The 19-mile stretch has had some of the highest rates of wildlife-vehicle collisions in Wyoming. This section of highway is labeled a “hotspot”, according to WYDOT vehicle collision reports, carcass counts and information compiled during the WYDOT and WGFD Wildlife and Roadways Summit. WYDOT numbers show that from 2018 to 2020, an average of 68 animal carcasses were picked up by maintenance crews.
“This wildlife crossing directly impacts Wyoming mule deer and it increases safety on the road as well,” WYDOT Public Relations Specialist for District Three Stephanie Harsha said.
In April 2017, WYDOT and WGFD officials created the Wyoming Wildlife and Roadways Initiative in order to improve road safety, reduce wildlife-vehicle crashes and maintain wildlife movement corridors. This culminated in the construction of nine underpasses and wildlife funnel-fencing on the 19-mile stretch of highway 189.
Collected data, public meetings and feedback from residents assisted WGFD in pinning down the locations best used for corridors. WYDOT and WGFD broke ground for the Dry Piney wildlife crossing project in May 2022.
The Dry Piney wildlife crossing project is unique in that its a financial collaboration between state agencies, multiple non-profits and the public. The total project cost was $15.1 million and was funded by a federal Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) grant to invest in transportation infrastructure, WGFD Transportation Commission, conservation organizations, private donors and landowners.
“This project reflects community support for the preservation of wildlife and the safety of the traveling public,” Harsha said.
Twenty percent of state-wide crashes in 2020 were wildlife crashes. Underpasses have proven to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. Seven underpasses and eight-foot-high fencing along a 13.5-mile stretch of Wyoming Highway 30 west of Kemmerer resulted in an 81% reduction in deer-vehicle collisions after three years. Another underpass, overpass and fencing project on U.S. Highway 191 near Pinedale, dropped mule deer collisions by 79% and eliminated pronghorn collisions.
Darn Westby, Director of WYDOT and Angie Bruce, Deputy Director for Wyoming Game and Fish External Affairs Department, will be on location to cut the underpass arch’s ribbon, give brief remarks and answers questions. The virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony is at 10 a.m. on Oct. 12.
Wyoming has identified 240 projects statewide to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. A map depicting high-collision sections of roads across Wyoming can be found on the Game and Fish website.
