ConservationNEXT

Western Environmental Law Center

Website
http://www.westernlaw.org
Contact Name
Katie Laughlin
Contact Email
laughlin@antispamwesternlaw.org
Location
Eugene, OR
As a nonprofit public interest advocacy center, the Western Environmental Law Center works to protect and restore Western wildlands, and advocates for a healthy environment on behalf of communities throughout the West.

We envision a West with vibrant, sustainable, and healthy communities; clean and abundant water; a functioning, connected network of permanently protected ecosystems; the resilience to adapt to global warming; and the tools and willpower to minimize our region’s contributions to climate change.
Our two areas of in-depth focus are:

•    Permanent protection and healthy functioning of ecosystems, including wildlife corridors; and
•    Environmentally healthy, livable communities.

Our four regional offices are located in Eugene, OR; Taos, NM; Durango, CO; and Helena, MT.
 
For more information please visit www.westernlaw.org.

Project Update

WELC VICTORY! Safe Passage on Colorado's Roadways

As the Colorado State Legislature drew to a close last week, Western Environmental Law Center celebrated our instrumental role in passing HB 1238, a bill designed to reduce collisions between vehicles and wildlife on state highways in Colorado. 

By increasing the ability of wildlife to cross roadways, this bill protects wildlife movement corridors and increases wildlife's ability to adapt to the effects of climate change. HB 1238 gives the Colorado Department of Transportation the authority to create up to 100 miles of special wildlife-crossing zones on roadways.

"As wildlife move in response to climate change and increasing habitat fragmentation, one of the first barriers they will confront are roads," said Monique DiGiorgio, WELC's Conservation Strategist. "HB 1238 is seminal legislation that will slow drivers down in critical movement corridors, thereby increasing driver reaction time and reducing collisions with wildlife. It is a model for the nation and WELC is thrilled to have played an instrumental role in its passage."

HB 1238 gives the Colorado Department of Transportation the authority to work with the Colorado Division of Wildlife and the Colorado State Patrol to identify "Wildlife Crossing Zones."  Signs will be created similar to those used in school crossings and construction zones.  Nighttime speed limits will be reduced in the wildlife zones and fines will be doubled.  The intent is to alert drivers about high-frequency wildlife-crossing areas and to slow speeds to boost reaction times and decrease the probability of being involved in a collision.  WELC worked with Frosty Merriott (WELC supporter and Trustee for the Town of Carbondale, CO), Center for Native Ecosystems, TransWild Alliance, and Defenders of Wildlife to pass this important bill.   

Animals move daily and seasonally throughout life to meet their basic needs for forage and mating. Restrictions on these movements, such as disrupted habitat and loss of clear corridors for movement, negatively impact individual animals as well as populations.  Transportation infrastructure is a principal cause of habitat fragmentation and loss, with considerable impacts on wildlife.

The passage of this bill is a success of WELC's Wildlife Corridors project work. We are working to protect habitat connectivity and wildlife movement corridors by: 1) developing and influencing national policies and regulations, including the Transportation Bill and our petition for rulemaking to the  Federal Highway Administration, 2) working with state agencies and the Western Governors' Association Wildlife Corridors Initiative to integrate wildlife corridor data into on-the-ground management decisions, and 3) defending crucial habitat and critical wildlife linkages in the courts.