Yellowstone National Park Wildlife May Soon Be Over Your Head

Sure, they can't understand the signs, but maybe herd mentality will help get the message across.

My friend Brett French, Outdoor Editor for the Billings Gazette, tells us that funding has been awarded to conduct an engineering study, with a goal of building two wildlife overpasses between Livingston and Gardiner along Highway 89. And based on average number of animal-vehicle collisions in the area, they could really use them!

Brett says the area of study just north of Yankee Jim Canyon, close to the Carbella fishing access site, an area know for heavy elk concentrations. The animals typically move into the area after migrating out of Yellowstone National Park. Reasons for the activity include the nearby Dome Mountain Wildlife Management Area and private agricultural fields.

The area of overpass study involves about 55 miles of Highway 89, but nearly half of all wildlife-vehicle collisions on that stretch of highway happen in the Dome Mountain Management Area and nearby ag fields. It adds up to about 160 collisions a year on average.

Although constructing the overpasses would be expensive, proponents point out huge savings to individuals who avoid smashing up their cars, not to mention injuries or possibly even fatalities to drivers and passengers. The structures also free up wildlife to safely migrate between seasonal habitat, once they get the hang of it. And we all know that Yellowstone Park, now averaging over 4 million tourist visits a year with plenty using Highway 89 to access north entry, is not about to slow down.

If you'd like more details on the study, you can check out Brett French's full article here.