Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation's Blog

January 2012

No More Dead Moose on Highway 390

On December 16, a vehicle hit a healthy cow moose which then required a Wyoming Game & Fish warden to put the suffering moose out of her misery beside her traumatized calf. This has understandably spurred heartbreak and outrage in our community. This tragedy marks the 4th moose that we have lost to wildlife vehicle collisions on Highway 390 in 2011 with the real number perhaps being higher. Are you willing to lose one more magnificent moose? We, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, are not. We are ready to take the lead in the effort to end wildlife vehicle collisions on Highway 390.

For starters, voluntarily lower your speed on Highway 390 by 10 mph at night, dawn and dusk when wildlife are hardest to see. This will add less than two minutes to drive the busiest 6.5 mile section of Highway 390 from the junction of Highway 22. Lower speeds increase driver reaction time and prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions. What do you value more? Reaching your destination with two minutes to spare or sustaining our moose population?

The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation has funded the portable flashing signs that warn of wildlife on roadways in Teton County. From the beginning, the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) has been a key and valued partner in our road kill reduction efforts. In 1994, we launched a multi-faceted road kill reduction campaign, “Give Wildlife a Brake”, designed to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) and promote safe wildlife movement.  In 2003, the JHWF completed a comprehensive study of the impact of roadways in Teton County on wildlife. The study identified wildlife-vehicle collision hotspots, mapped critical habitat, migration corridors, highlighted characteristics of crossing areas, estimated costs of WVCs, and recommended mitigation options. Consequently we chose dynamic message signs to provide the best mitigation value in preventing wildlife-vehicle collisions. Informing a driver of hazards improves their reaction time, giving them a significantly better chance of avoiding a wildlife collision.

From 2006 to 2008, the JHWF purchased and placed five portable message signs to mitigate road kill in Jackson.  These signs are moved around the valley by WYDOT to alert drivers of wildlife hotspots.  Two of these signs were donated to Grand Teton NP where, according to park officials they saw a marked decrease in WVCs during the initial years the signs were in use. Three signs were donated to WYDOT and are in use around Jackson.  The JHWF purchased the message signs through generous donations from valley residents and wildlife advocates. A portable message sign costs approximately $15,000. The average cost of vehicle damage following a deer collision is approximately $3,353; a collision with an adult moose is much higher.

The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation operates a dedicated road kill hotline (307-734-9454) so people can notify us of road kill. We enter this information into our database and share the data with the agencies making difficult wildlife and roadway decisions. Earlier in 2011 we supported the initiative of Grand Teton National Park to lower the night time speed limit to 45 miles per hour. We just received a grant from the Community Foundation to support our road kill reduction efforts in 2012.

Despite these many efforts, road kill remains a major problem in Teton County. In a report recently published by the Western Transportation Institute, the segment of Highway 390 where this moose was killed ranked as the highest value location of the 22 sites studied for mitigation action within Teton County.

Here at the start of 2012 is a good time to make a concerted effort to stop the killing of wildlife on the valley’s roads. Let’s aim to go one full year without another moose dying on Highway 390. We are willing to do everything within the means of our organization to make this goal become reality. We already have a tentative commitment from one local forward-thinking business to support our efforts to end wildlife vehicle collisions on Highway 390.

We applaud Grand Teton National Park, WYDOT, Wyoming Game and Fish, Teton County, the Town of Jackson, the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Safe Wildlife Crossings, the Conservation Research Center of Teton Science Schools, the Bridger-Teton NF and the National Elk Refuge for their efforts to protect wildlife. This is an issue we can all rally around.  Are you in?  Visit http://www.jhwildlife.org to get involved.

Can you envision a collaborative effort of citizens, organizations, and agencies focused on road kill reduction that establishes Jackson Hole as a community that demonstratively protects our extraordinary wildlife? Will you commit to taking two extra minutes to get to your destinations on Highway 390 to save a moose? Wouldn’t we all be proud if at the end of 2012 there were no moose killed by vehicles on Highway 390? Let’s make 2012 the year the slaughter ends on Teton County roadways.

Leigh Work
Executive Director
Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation