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Defenders Magazine
Defenders in Action: Wildlife on Road to Recovery
More than a million animals are likely killed on America’s roads and highways every day. It’s a staggering number but one that could decrease if measures in the new federal transportation bill are followed.
The bill, approved by Congress this summer, requires transportation planners to consider wildlife before plowing up and paving over the land. Currently, highway projects are planned, funded and designed before considering the potential impacts to wildlife and habitat.
Under the new bill’s provisions, included with pressure from Defenders and its members, transportation planners will consider sensitive habitats to avoid building roads in those areas. Congress also commissioned a study of the causes and effects of wildlife-vehicle collisions and fully funded a program that provides money to build passages to help animals cross roads and highways.
“This is historic," says Trisha White, director of Defenders’ Habitat and Highways campaign. “For the first time, wildlife will be one of the first things considered when building roads, rather than the last."
That said, White warns that the bill is a mixed-bag for the environment overall. No road building is good for wildlife, she says, and some parts of the bill may undermine the gains made to protect animals and humans from collisions. Specifically, the bill weakens the National Environmental Policy Act—the law requiring environmental assessments of proposed federally funded projects. The $286-billion bill is also laden with at least $20 billion in pork-barrel projects, some of which will likely harm wild creatures and their habitat.
“We now have the information and tools to do solid wildlife conservation while maintaining a world-class transportation system," says White. “There’s simply no excuse to do less."
