Save People Save Wildlife President Erin Ferguson said she hopes people will join her group in urging the Utah Department of Transportation and local governments to quickly patch local fences. She’s not just talking about an isolated few that broke last winter but others in the future as well.
“The support that we've seen from the public, we need to convey that to these entities,” she said. “These are the taxpayers in your town, and they're concerned about their safety on the roadways.”
She says four breaches of wildlife fences in Summit Park and Jeremy Ranch, places where animals often roam, increase the risk of car wrecks.
She praised three volunteers who fixed a breach June 25 where a car hit an elk and knocked down a fence on Rasmussen Road.
“A group of volunteers said, ‘Well, we can't wait for UDOT to respond and get out there and fix it because animals are dying and motorists are at risk,’” Ferguson said. “They spent eight hours of their time all day one day on the weekend, and they spent their dollars to buy the materials.”
In April, Save People Save Wildlife joined forces with UDOT to build more than a mile of fencing on both sides of the freeway between Kimball Junction and Silver Creek Junction. The money the nonprofit supplied was part of more than $200,000 it raised for similar projects in the past seven years. One of its most visible is the wildlife bridge over Parleys Summit on Interstate 80.
UDOT Region 2 Senior Communications Manager Kylar Sharp says the state intends to fix wildlife fences and build new ones, but lacks a contractor for those tasks. The first-choice company went bankrupt, and the second choice declined to accept the work.
He says UDOT and Save People Save Wildlife share the same goals.
“We're consistently meeting with Save People Save Wildlife and we're trying to do everything we can to not only enhance safety for the traveling public, but for the wildlife in this area as well,” Sharp said.
He also reminds drivers they can reduce the risk of accidents by slowing down and watching for wildlife on or near the roads. He says that’s why UDOT has reduced speed limits in the Park City area and added signs to warn drivers about animals nearby.
Ferguson agrees it’s an important cause for the safety of humans and animals alike.
“If we can't figure out a way to coexist with the wildlife and provide connectivity for them, we're going to be without wildlife in the not too distant future,” she said.
Another Save People Save Wildlife member and Park City Council candidate Bill Ciraco says the group is working to mitigate impacts of a project to widen state Route 224. According to a webpage about that project, if the plan is approved, it would add bus lanes to either side of the road between Kimball Junction and Park City.
