News

"Conservation, sportsmen’s groups urging Senate for wildlife crossings in funding bill"

Conservation groups f various stripes have uged the MT state senate to include $50 million for wildlife crossings. This is equivalent to >10% of Montana's annual transportation budget and represents a new benchmark for wildlife conservation in relation to highways. Will other states with much larger bugdets step up? 

The International Conference on Ecology and Transportation, 2019 is organized by the Road Ecology Center and will be held in Sacramento, between September 22nd and 26th. Early registration for the conference ends July 12th. 

Highway 37 is California's most vulnerable (to sea level rise, SLR) shoreline highway. It is also congested, providing critical commuter connections between the SF Bay Area's eastern and western counties. This story discusses the current state of adapting the highway to SLR.

KQED Highway 37 and Sea Level Rise

The Road Ecology Center has been partnering and collaborating with transportation, wildlife and other organizations for ~15 years. Our website and various web-based projects are one of the main ways that we engage with partners and the public.

The Call for Abstracts has been released for the International Conference on Ecology and Transportation, 2019, which will be held in Sacramento, CA between September 22nd and 26th, 2019. Scientists, engineers, planners, policy-makers, non-governmental organizations, consultants, and artists who work in the area of ecology and transportation are invited to submit abstracts for presentations and to participate in the conference. Abstracts are due April 19th.

The 2018 Wildlife-Vehicle Conflict (WVC) report describes the impact and cost of WVC on California state highways for wildlife and drivers. The report also describes a new, automated WVC hotspots web-site (https://roadecology.ucdavis.edu/hotspots). This website proides a continuous record of WVC incidents and hotspots in California, as well as tools for other states to conduct their own analyses.

The Transportation Research Board's Annual Conference is the preeminent event for transportation scientists, engineers, planners, and policy-wonks. There are hundreds of talks and posters, thousands of people, exhibitors galore, and a never-ending supply of committees. A bit pricey to attend, but you will see your DOT compatriots there.

TRB 2018

This new report uses crash and carcass data from 2015 and 2016 to find the hotspots on state highways for wildlife-vehicle collisions. We also total the damage from these collisions (e.g., damage to vehicles, emeergency response, medical expenses, etc.) and found that for 2016, the total cost was $276 million for California, up 20% from 2015.

This story discusses the persistent flooding of State Route 37 (3 times since New Year) and possible solutions to the problem.

SF Chronicle Story

REC Co-Director quoted talking to AP and Santa Rosa Press Democrat about the relationship between recent flooding of highway 37 and sea level rise. The discussions revolved around a new normal of increasingly extreme and dynamic conditions that we will have to adapt to.

Santa Rosa Press Democrat

AP