Habitat and Highways Publications

Academic Papers | Reports | Books | Bibliographies

ACADEMIC PAPERS

Identifying the Best Locations Along Highways to Provide Safe Crossing Opportunities for Wildlife
Sarah A. Barnum, M.S., Wildlife Biology, Ph.D., Design and Planning.

Abstract
Providing mid- and large-sized mammals with safe opportunities to cross roadways can reduce the impacts of highways on wildlife. To maximize effectiveness, this type of mitigation must be placed in locations where animals naturally approach and cross the highway. Results of a study funded by the Colorado Department of Transportation indicate that mid- and large sized mammals focus crossing activity at specific locations that are correlated to features of the surrounding habitat and the roadway itself. Therefore, both the design of a highway and its placement in the landscape should be considered when creating mitigation projects to help wildlife safely cross a highway.

Citizen, Science, Highways, and Wildlife: Using a Web-based GIS to Engage Citizens in Collecting Wildlife Information
Tracy Lee, Research Associate, Miistakis Institute
Michael S. Quinn, Director of Research and Liason, Miistakis Institute
Dana Duke, Executive Director

Abstract
Road Watch in the Pass is a citizen-science project that engages local citizens in reporting wildlife observations along a 44-km stretch of Highway 3 through Crowsnest Pass in southwestern Alberta, Canada. The numbers of wildlife vehicle collisions and a recent proposal to expand the highway have raised concerns from both human safety and wildlife conservation perspectives. Through the use of a web-based GIS, interested citizens can contribute information that will be instrumental in making final decisions concerning measures to mitigate the effects of highway expansion.

Restoration of Carnivore Habitat Connectivity in the Northern Rocky Mountains 
Bill Ruediger; Endangered Species Program Leader, USDA Forest Service

James J. Claar; Carnivore Program Leader, USDA Forest Service

James F. Gore; National Grizzly Bear Habitat Coordinator, USDA Forest Service

Abstract
The Northern Rocky Mountains are the best location in the lower 48 states to maintain functioning communities of large and mid-sized carnivores. Highways and railroads have created significant habitat fragmentation, habitat loss, mortality and other threats to these species. The authors reviewed existing highways and railroads, as well as land ownership patterns. "Key linkage areas" were evaluated across the Northern Rocky Mountains of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Sixty four highways were considered important as key linkage areas. Twenty of these were considered "high priority" due to the cumulative impacts of having four lanes, high traffic volume, high potential for upgrading, paralleling railroads or critical private lands. Highway planners are encouraged to move towards analyzing "geographic areas" when assessing impacts of highways on wide-ranging carnivores.

Bridge Replacements: An Opportunity to Improve Habitat Connectivity Laurie Ann Macdonald and Sietske Smith, Defenders of Wildlife

Abstract
Bridges crossing wildlife movement corridors are often sites of roadkill collisions and habitat fragmentation. Bridges should be extended to span uplands that provide habitat and a movement corridor for terrestrial wildlife. Thousands of bridges are being replaced and rehabilitated across the United States over the next few decades which presents an exceptional opportunity to incorporate design modifications that reestablish or improve habitat connectivity. This paper discusses the number of bridges to be replaced, bridge design, examples, costs, funding sources, and laws pertaining to bridges, wildlife, and wildlife habitat.

Yellowstone National Park Speed Reduction to Reduce Wildlife Mortality

Abstract
Studies have shown that reduction of speed on highways through public lands can reduce collisions between vehicles and wildlife. A study conducted in Yellowstone National Park concluded that vehicle speed in the park was more significanttly impacted by road condition rather than speed limit.

REPORTS

Wildlife Roadkill Identification Guide
The British Columbia Ministry of Transportation has used the Wildlife Accident Reporting System (WARS) since the 1970's to record motor vehicle-related wildlife mortality. This guide provides species-specific information on wildlife found on British Columbia highways to help ensure accurate identification of carcasses for WARS purposes. Improved accuracy will support the decision-making process for wildlife accident reduction initiatives, such as wildlife warning signs and exclusion systems.

A Landowner's Guide to Wildlife Friendly Fences
Landowner/Wildlife Resource Program, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks
2008
Montana is criscrossed with thousands of miles of fences, which divide ranches and outline property boundaries throughout the state. These fences can be a barrier to wildlife, from large mammals to birds, causing avoidable injuries and fatalities. Landowners are also forced to devote significant amounts of time and energy to repairing animal damage to their fences. This guide serves as a tool for landowners to minimize fence-related wildlife fatalities and the resulting costs to landowners.

The $61 Million Question: How Can Transportation Enhancements Benefit Wildlife?
Trisha White and Jesse Feinberg, Defenders of Wildlife
June 20, 2008
Transportation Enhancements is a sadly under-utilized program that could provide as much as $61 million per year for restoring wildlife habitat connectivity and reducing wildlife vehicle collisions.

AASHTO Report:  DOT Supported Positions at Federal and State Resource Agencies, Local Governments, and Tribes, 2005, and Changes from 2003

Strategic Agenda for Reducing Deer-Vehicle Crashes

Animal-Vehicle Collisions and Habitat Connectivity along Montana Highway 83 in the Seeley-Swan Valley, Montana: a Reconnaissance 
A report prepared in January of 2006 for the Montana Department of Transportation in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration.

Highways and Habitats: Managing Habitat Connectivity and Landscape Permeability for Wildlife
The PNW Research Station has produced a nontechnical publication on the highways and landscape permeability work that Peter Singleton has done over the last several years, including the work along I-90.

Management Considerations for Designing Carnivore Highway Crossings
A paper prepared by Bill Ruediger for the SW Carnivore Committee Meeting in Tuscon, AZ in December 2005.

Methods to Reduce Traffic Crashes Involving Deer
This is an article by the highway insurance institute concerning research and recommendations to reduce deer/vehicle collisions.

Measuring the Health Effects of Sprawl: A National Analysis of Physical Activity, Obesity and Chronic Disease 
This new report from Smart Growth America and the Surface Transportation Policy Project presents the first national study to show that people who live in counties marked by sprawl-style development tend to weigh more, are more likely to be obese and are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure. 

Clearing the Air: Public Health Threats from Cars and Heavy Duty Vehicles-Why We Need to Protect Federal Clean Air Laws
This study from the Surface Transportation Policy Project names transportation as a major contributor to air pollution nationwide, and calls on Congress to protect and strengthen clean air laws and funding. Lawmakers will soon vote on legislation that could undermine clean air protections and slash funding for transportation alternatives that reduce traffic and air pollution including rail, buses and bikeways.

Transportation Costs and the American Dream: Why a Lack of Transportation Choices Strains the Family Budget and Hinders Home Ownership 
This new report from the Surface Transportation Policy Project outlines the issue of transportation as the second largest annual expense for American families, adding up to more than three times the cost of health care, and exceeded only by housing as an expenditure, and ranks 28 major metropolitan areas by the amount of the family budget devoted to daily transportation costs.

The Road to Better Transportation Projects: Public Involvement and the NEPA Process
This report is about a landmark law requiring the federal government to examine alternatives and seek to minimize harmful effects of federally funded projects, like highways, which have the potential to damage our health, environment and quality of life. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which took effect in 1970, requires that federal agencies study and disclose the environmental effects of their actions and include the public in the decision-making process for federally funded projects.

Interaction Between Roadways and Wildlife Ecology: A Synthesis of Highway Practice 
The Transportation Research Board, part of the National Academy of Sciences, published this 2002 report summarizing the effects of roads on wildlife.

Danger in the Air: Unhealthy Levels of Smog in 2002
U.S. Public Interest Research Group's fourth annual compilation of data from the nation's network of more than 1,000 ozone monitors presents key findings about the levels of smog and ozone in different regions of the United States, and make recommendations about what policy-makers should do to reverse the trend of unhealthy air quality.

Does Public Transit Raise Site Values Around Its Stops Enough To Pay For Itself (Were The Value Captured)? 
By Jeffery J. Smith. This report has been significantly updated. This is one of the most comprehensive summaries currently available of studies on the impacts of public transit accessibility on nearby property values. It has been significantly expanded, now including references to 85 existing studies.

2001 Urban Mobility Study
In the annual study, the Texas Transportation Institute uses a variety of measures to illustrate the nation's growing traffic problem. The findings are intended to provide elected officials, policy makers and everyday commuters a collection of easily understood measures to support local decision-making related to freeway and street systems as well as a variety of other land-use issues.

Creating the Interstate System
Richard F. Weingroff is an information liaison specialist in the Federal Highway Administration's Office of the Associate Administrator for Program Development. Weingroff provides an informative, enlightening and sometimes entertaining account of our transportation history. From FDR to President Bush (Sr.), see how our infrastructure has changed, and how it has changed us.

ROAD TO RUIN '99: The 50 Most Wasteful Roads in America
The 1999 Road to Ruin Report illustrates how taxpayer-financed road projects increase sprawl, harm our communities and damage the environment. The report, compiled by Taxpayers for Common Sense and Friends of the Earth with contributions from hundreds of grassroots activists across the country, lists the 50 most wasteful road projects in America.

CREATING CONGESTION: Why Building More Roads Increases Traffic 
Research has shown that expanding road capacity does not alleviate traffic, and actually increases traffic problems. New Mexico PIRG examines several examples of road projects in the Albuquerque metropolitan area, as well as other states and cities to demonstrate how new roads have not alleviated traffic problems. Instead, building new roads and adding lanes have generated new traffic, which has only made congestion problems worse.

Breaking the Gridlock: Real Solutions for Transportation Problems
Washington PIRG provides an analysis of road building and traffic congestion in the state. Some key findings include:

• Building roads does not necessarily alleviate traffic.
• Building roads can actually attract new traffic to those roads, causing more congestion.
• Newly constructed roads often fill up much faster than anticipated, providing little to no relief.
• Road construction projects can cause more delays than the eventual benefits are worth.
• Road construction leads to urban and suburban sprawl.

BOOKS

Second Nature: Improving Transportation Without Putting Nature Second
By Patricia A. White and Michelle Ernst
2003

Road Ecology: Science and Solutions
By Richard T. T. Forman, et al.
Island Press; ISBN: 1-55963-932-6
2003

Banks and Fees: The Status of Off-Site Wetland Migration in the United States
By the Environmental Law Institute
The Environmental Law Institute; ISBN: 1-58576-C46-3
2002

Roadside Use of Native Plants
By Bonnie Harper-Lore (Editor), Maggie Wilson (Editor)
Island Press; ISBN: 1-55963-837-0
August 2002

Flexibility in Highway Design
By the Federal Highway Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation; Publication Number: FHWA-PD-97-062

Taking the High Road: Protecting Open Space Along American's Highways
By Preston L. Schiller, Ph.D.
The Trust for Public Land
2002

The State of the Nation�s Ecosystems: Measuring the Lands, Waters, and Living Resources of the United States
The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment
Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0-521-52572-1
2002

Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions Between Land Use, Transportation, and Environmental Quality
By the Environmental Protection Agency
Publication number EPA 231-R-01-002

Compensating for Wetland Losses Under the Clean Water Act
By the National Research Council
National Academy of Sciences; ISBN: 0-309-07432-0
2001

Perverse Subsidies: How Tax Dollars Can Undercut the Environment and the Economy
By Norman Myers and Jennifer Kent
Island Press; ISBN: 1-55963-834-6
2001

Precious Heritage : The Status of Biodiversity in the United States
by Bruce A. Stein (Editor), Lynn S. Kutner (Editor), Jonathan S. Adams (Editor)
Oxford Univ Pr (Trade); ISBN: 0195125193
2000

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Transportation and the Environment: An Annotated Bibliography
Developed by the Federal Railroad Administration to determine the extent to which models had been developed that permit comparisons among transportation options as to environmental impacts. Covers recent publications that describe or offer insights into environmental effects of transportation systems and how public policies are addressing transportation related environmental issues.
Categories:
Air Quality Issues
Noise Pollution Issues
Oil Pollution Issues
Hazardous Materials Issues
Land Use Issues
Water Pollution and Wetlands Issues
Related Environmental Issues
Energy Issues
International Issues

Border Region Information on Transportation and the Environment (BRITE)
An online, fully-searchable annotated bibliography on transportation and the environment in the US Mexico border region. The ATR Institute (ATRI) is developing the BRITE as a unique "one-stop shop" for all interested parties to identify existing studies, reports, and research concerning transportation-related environmental issues in this border region.