The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Utah Department of Transportation teamed up to launch the Utah Roadkill Reporter app for public use a year ago. It’s for people to report dead animals on roadways so they are removed faster, making the roads safer.
According to the DWR, almost 4,000 roadkill incidents were reported in the app this year. About 98% were mule deer. However, the DWR estimates only half of deer-vehicle collisions are reported and around 10,000 deer are hit by cars annually in Utah.
Nicole Nielson is a wildlife impact analysis coordinator with the DWR. She said during the last year there were over 200 roadkill pickups each in Summit and Wasatch counties. In the past five years, there were over 1,800 cases in Wasatch County and over 2,200 cases in Summit County.
Summit County’s main area of concern is around Echo Junction on I-84.
“The map that I use is from the last five years to average out things like last winter where we had a really heavy snow load, we were seeing a lot of animals congregate closer to roads," Nielson said. "So, it kind of helps us see if this is incidental year to year, or if it's occurring over time.”
I-80 near Echo Junction is another area of concern with about 200 incidents at various spots in the last five years.
Nielson said Highway 248 in Wasatch and Summit counties also stands out.
“There's a lot of drive accesses on and off the road," she said. "So that one has its own unique set of challenges.”
Summit and Wasatch counties are in the middle in terms of roadkill numbers throughout the state. Utah County had the most reported incidents with more than 500 and Grand County had the least, only two in the last year.
If residents spot roadkill, Nielson encourages people to report it in the app.
“More of those reports that we get can kind of help inform if that's just an isolated incident, or if there's actually kind of a connectivity issue in a spot.”
The DWR and UDOT plan to use the gathered data to determine where to build future wildlife fencing and crossings to protect wildlife and people.
