The Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University has published a report that examines potential mitigation measures for reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions and providing safe wildlife crossings. The report is an update of a highway mitigation plan prepared in March 2008 for Parks Canada for Highway 93S that runs through Kootenay and Banff national parks. The report includes an update on the availability and effectiveness of potential mitigation measures, including wildlife fencing, wildlife underpasses and overpasses, animal detection systems, and new road striping patterns designed to influence drivers to lower their vehicle speeds. The report also provides additional wildlife mortality and observation data. For more information, link to Update for Wildlife-Vehicle Collision and Crossing Mitigation Plan for Hwy 93S in Kootenay and Banff National Park. (3-3-10)

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The Center for Transportation Research and Education at Iowa State University has published a report that examines the relationship between deer-vehicle collisions, deer density, and land use in three urban areas in Iowa that have deer management plans. The report finds that the number of deer carcasses removed on the primary roads in these areas was greater than the number of reported deer-vehicle crashes. The report also identifies factors that could be useful for identifying locations on the transportation system that significantly impact deer species and safety and for determining appropriate countermeasures for mitigation. In addition, the report recommends actions to reduce deer density near roads and developed land, provide wider shoulders on undivided roads, and improve the consistency and accuracy of deer carcass and deer-vehicle collision data collection methods. For more information, link to An Assessment of Traffic Safety in Urban Deer Herd Management Zones in Iowa. (2-24-10)

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has developed a course on innovative approaches for addressing wildlife/highway interactions. The course will provide an overview of wildlife issues relative to existing highways and highway planning, differences in impacts and solutions between low volume and high volume roads, structural and non-structural solutions to wildlife mortality and habitat connectivity, and an introduction to available resources on wildlife/highway crossings and interactions. Two sessions currently are offered: one is scheduled for July 7-9, 2010, at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, W.Va. The second course will be held Sept. 13-15, 2010, in Portland, Ore. For more information, link to Department of the Interior’s Learning Management System website.(1-29-10)

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The Transportation Research Board’s Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Volume No. 2123, includes 19 papers covering various environmental research topics. The subjects examined include linking transportation planning and the National Environmental Policy Act processes, idling reduction options for heavy-duty diesel trucks, use of dispersion modeling to predict near-road particulate matter concentrations, environmental impacts of high-emitting vehicles, measuring pass-by noise from highway trucks, planning of combined wildlife and pedestrian highway crossings, historic roadway preservation, and others. For more information, link to the Transportation Research Record, Vol. 2123. (1-22-10)

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The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies has issued voluntary guidance for state fish and wildlife agencies that want to better incorporate climate change impacts on wildlife and their habitat into state wildlife action plans and other management plans. The guidance addresses wildlife adaptation, vulnerability assessment, monitoring, and the planning process. The document also includes an overview of current information on climate change, tools for planning for and implementing climate change adaptation, and case studies. For more information, link to Voluntary Guidance for States to Incorporate Climate Change into State Wildlife Action Plans & Other Management Plans. (1-13-10)

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Ecological survey needs related to transportation activities and new approaches for meeting those needs are examined in a synthesis report produced under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP Project 20-5, Topic 39-12). The report is based on a 2008 survey of personnel at state departments of transportation and state fish and wildlife agencies who were most familiar with environmental survey needs and new approaches to meeting them. Examples of new approaches include data collection and analysis, bringing data into common geographic information systems (GIS) formats, and improving cooperative working relationships among transportation and resource agencies. The report also provides a matrix of new technologies and methods organized by different phases in the transportation process as well as case studies and a list of referenced literature and websites. For more information, link to NCHRP Synthesis 400: New Approaches to Ecological Surveys (Project 20-5, Topic 39-12). (1-8-10)

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The Western Governors’ Association has posted a draft white paper developed by the Western Governors' Wildlife Council on the creation of Decision Support Systems (DSSs) by states to identify and understand key wildlife habitat and corridors. The association’s 2008 Wildlife Corridors Initiative Report recommended that each state create a DSS to compile landscape-level mapped biological information to support wildlife corridor identification, conservation planning, and infrastructure siting. The white paper includes definitions of relevant terms and provides guidance on the development of DSSs, including the identification or reclassification of crucial habitat and wildlife corridors, mapping of those areas, and development of a system to display the information. For more information, link to the draft white paper, Western Regional Wildlife Decision Support System: Definitions and Guidance for State Systems. (12-9-09)

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The Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft document that describes a framework for categorizing the relative vulnerability of species to climate change. To illustrate its use, the framework was applied to six U.S. species that were listed as threatened or endangered at the time the framework was developed by the agency’s Global Change Research Program. The framework is intended to serve as one of the potential approaches for prioritizing those species most vulnerable to climate change. For more information, link to the Federal Register notice. (11-25-09)

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its Candidate Notice of Review, an annual appraisal of the candidate species list detailing those plants or animals that may warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Four species have been removed from the candidate list, five species has been added to the list, and eight species have a change in priority since the last review was published in December 2008. There now are 249 species recognized by the Service as candidates for protection under ESA. FWS is soliciting public comment and additional information on candidate species, as well as information about species that should be included in future candidate updates. For more information link to the news release and the Candidate Conservation Program website. (11-6-09)

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A compilation of new technologies, practices, and other tools for environmental field data collection during the analysis of existing conditions, impacts, and potential mitigation required under the National Environmental Policy Act are provided in a new report produced under the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP Project 25-25, Task 48). The research sought to develop and maintain an ongoing compendium of environmental fieldwork technologies through an online survey of all state departments of transportation. Detailed follow-up interviews also were conducted with state DOTs that identified themselves as leaders in environmental fieldwork technologies and practices in four disciplines: cultural resources, ecology, water permitting, and noise analysis. Additional surveys of selected consultants of some of the state DOTs were also performed. The report documents results of the surveys for each of the discipline areas and presents conclusions. For more information, link to the Compendium of Environmental Fieldwork Technologies (NCHRP 25-25, Task 48). (10-16-09)

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The Western Governors’ Association has posted to its website presentations and other materials from a meeting of the Western Governors' Wildlife Council (WGWC) held Oct. 4-6, 2009, in Helena, Mont. The WGWC was established in June 2008, following publication of the Wildlife Corridors Initiative Report, to identify key wildlife corridors and crucial habitats in the West and to coordinate policy options and tools for conserving those landscapes. The meeting included presentation of a draft white paper on the development of Decision Support Systems (DSSs) by states to help identify and protect key wildlife corridors, as recommended by the 2008 report. Other meeting materials available online include state wildlife pilot project concept papers; a list of meeting registrants; and presentations on topics including new federal policies for corridors conservation, conserving extensive connectivity in contested landscapes, and wildlife corridor initiatives of the Western Regional Partnership. For more information, link to the WGA Wildlife Corridors Initiative website. (10-13-09)

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The October 2009 issue of the Federal Highway Administration’s Successes in Stewardship newsletter features a series of workshops convened by the Nebraska Department of Roads and FHWA’s Nebraska Division Office to assist local planning agencies with streamlining the environmental review process for transportation projects to meet funding requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The workshops, held in July and August 2009, paired planning agency representatives with transportation and resource agency staff who could offer technical assistance on streamlining the environmental review process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The workshops led to the approval of 77 projects as of late September and showcase successful collaborative efforts between local, state, and federal agencies. The newsletter also features highlights of the 2009 International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET) held in Duluth, Minn., in September. The conference brought together over 400 international representatives in the fields of ecology and transportation to address the theme of “Adapting to Change,” incorporating transportation systems and ecosystems in the context of global climate change. For more information, link to the October 2009 Successes in Stewardship newsletter, Double Issue! Nebraska Environmental Streamlining Workshops and ICOET 2009. (10-8-09)

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a proposed strategic plan for coordinating the agency’s efforts to address climate change impacts to natural resources. The strategic plan employs three key strategies: adaptation, or helping to reduce climate change impacts on fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats; mitigation, through reducing the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; and engagement with agency employees, the public and private sectors, and key constituencies and stakeholders. The strategic plan offers a series of commitments that the agency will take to address climate change, including: leading efforts to develop a National Fish and Wildlife Adaptation Strategy; creating a National Biological Inventory and Monitoring Partnership to gather and analyze data on climate change impacts to fish and wildlife species and their habitats; and building regional Landscape Conservation Cooperatives. Comments on the draft strategic plan are due Nov. 23, 2009. For more information, link to the FWS Strategic Plan for Climate Change website. (9-23-09)

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Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has announced that the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission approved $33.4 million in grants under the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) to conserve 190,000 acres of wetlands. The grants will be used to support 34 conservation projects carried out by public-private partnerships in 24 states under the U.S. Standard Grants Program; partners in these projects will contribute an additional $89.3 million in matching funds. The Commission also approved the use of nearly $8 million in Federal Duck Stamp Funds to add more than 4,000 wetland acres to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wildlife Refuge System. According to Secretary Salazar, the federal government now has made over $1 billion in grants under NAWCA over the past two decades, with over 25.4 million acres of wetlands and associated wildlife habitat conserved or restored. For more information, link to the news release. (9-9-09)

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