The commitment of federal money to build the first such corridor over Interstate 5 is a victory for volunteer activists

By Michael Dotson

With the help of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program, the state of Oregon will see its first wildlife overpass built in Ashland’s backyard.

For the past several years, a volunteer-led effort by the Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition has focused on improving safe wildlife passage across Interstate 5 in the heart of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

After years of research and analysis to identify the best location for wildlife crossings, SOWCC worked with the Oregon Department of Transportation to narrow down a collection of overpasses and underpasses to one wildlife overcrossing site located near the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument’s Mariposa Preserve.

The proposed wildlife overpass is located roughly at mile marker 1.7 on Interstate 5, just north of the California border. It is expected that the $37 million project will take several years to complete.

A group effort

How Southern Oregon landed the state’s first wildlife overpass, the first wildlife overpass on the entire length of Interstate 5 on the West Coast, is a story of collaboration. With the help and guidance of volunteers Amy Amrhein and Jack Williams, the Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition built up a diverse partnership of NGOs, scientists, private and public landowners, universities, as well as hunting and environmental conservation partners.

Tribal engagement and support comes from the Cow Creek Band of the Umpqua Tribes of Indians, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz. For the last three years, students at Southern Oregon University have been working with the Bureau of Land Management to track wildlife sightings and crossings near the project site in order to understand what types of animals are seen in the vicinity of Interstate 5. Trail cameras have recorded everything from deer to foxes to cougars and bobcats using small culverts to move across the landscape bisected by Interstate 5 and where the best potential crossing sites are located. Unfortunately, many travelers have also reported signs of roadkill to large wildlife such as black bears.

A crossroads for migration

The Mariposa Preserve Wildlife Overpass Project is situated at a crossroads of sorts. Located within the boundaries of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, this is an area where various ecosystems converge to create a mosaic of habitat types. It’s worth noting that the future wildlife overpass sits along a strategic migratory zone on the Siskiyou Crest. It is a unique east-west mountainous terrain that connects the wetter Coastal Mountains with dryer inland habitats along the Cascade Mountains range. Deer and elk migrate through this area, and the wildlife overpass is also very close to where the famous wandering wolf OR-7 made a crossing or two when he first set foot in California over a decade ago.

The Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center is excited to be part of the partnership that has been advocating for a wildlife crossing in a national monument devoted to the protection of biodiversity. The Cascade-Siskiyou is renowned for its biodiversity. It provides ecological connections among the Coast Range and Klamath Mountains to the west, and the Cascades and high deserts to the east.  This, and other wildlife crossings along I-5, would restore the ecological connections currently severed by the freeway. 

Federal and state support

Along with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s $33.2 million award for the Mariposa Preserve, the Oregon Department of Transportation is investing another $3.8 million into the project. It’s a big price tag, but KS Wild and partners see this as a critical investment to support wildlife connectivity and habitat in the face of a changing climate.

We encourage the public to keep tabs on the project and progress by visiting the Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition website and following SOWCC on its Facebook site or its Instagram channel. With the help of students at SOU, we hope to continue highlighting the diverse wildlife that will benefit from this new overcrossing.

KS Wild Side appears every month and features a staff member from KS Wild, a regional conservation organization based in Ashland. Michael Dotson works as the executive director for KS Wild. For more information go to kswild.org.