OHA expands wildlife crossing efforts to SW Oregon

By Tyler Dungannon, Conservation Coordinator
TD@oregonhunters.org

OHA actively contributes to efforts to
improve wildlife habitat connectivity and
reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions across
Oregon, and we are now working as part
of the Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing
Coalition (SOWCC) to mitigate negative
impacts of Interstate 5 south of Ashland.
Like our involvement with the Oregon
Action Team on Ungulate Migration,
SOWCC is diverse in composition and
includes representation from ODFW,
BLM, Southern Oregon University, Trout
Unlimited, and many others.
Oregon Department of Transportation
has identified several stretches of high
wildlife-vehicle collision density between Ashland and the California border.
Working with Coalition partners, we have
identified six sites with high potential for
effective wildlife crossings in this stretch
of I-5.
Our next step is to undertake a feasibility study and preliminary design for
the most practical and effectual sites to
get wildlife across the interstate safely.