Highway Wildlife Collisions

In 2007, the Idaho Transportation Department awarded federal funding to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to carry out two statewide projects with the goal of making Idaho's roads safer for drivers and wildlife. The project objectives are:

1. Develop a statewide map and database of important "wildlife linkage" areas in relation to Idaho's highways and roads.

   Wildlife linkage areas offer needed habitat requirements for wildlife populations and are critical for providing areas for wildlife movement across the landscape, such as seasonal mule deer migration routes. By incorporating linkage area information into transportation management decisions, transportation officials, land managers, and other interested parties will be able to make more informed assessments regarding the needs of wildlife in future highway projects.

   Wildlife linkage reports completed to date:
   • Idaho Transportation Districts 3, 4, & 5  [PDF, 8 MB]
   • Idaho Transportation District 6  [PDF, 4 MB]
   • Idaho Transportation District 1  [PDF, 11 MB]
   • Idaho Transportation District 2  [PDF, 11 MB]

2. Develop a statewide online wildlife-vehicle collision database tool to document and monitor wildlife mortality caused by vehicles.

   The wildlife-vehicle collision database is a central repository for road kill data from state and federal roadways throughout the state of Idaho. This data is being collected by personnel from the Transportation Department, Fish and Game and other agencies, and is being maintained by Fish and Game in cooperation with Transportation.

   Besides acting as a central repository, the database also allows users to enter and search wildlife-vehicle mortality data for all state and federal roadways in Idaho. The database will allow wildlife mortality areas along Idaho's roadways to be identified and better documented.