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Every 26 seconds – or less – a driver hits an animal, making highways one of the greatest barriers to wildlife movement in the United States. In addition to killing 1-2 million large animals every year, these collisions cause 200 human fatalities and over 26,000 injuries, at a cost to Americans of more than $8 billion annually. Road mortality is also a serious threat to 21 endangered and threatened species. The good news is there are proven solutions to this problem: Placed in areas of known wildlife movement, wildlife crossing structures with associated elements such as fencing, have been shown to reduce motorist collisions involving wildlife by up to 97%.

In celebration of how people from all walks of life are working together to solve this problem, ARC Solutions has worked with its partners and cooperating agencies to compile this series of stories to celebrate existing and planned wildlife crossing projects aimed at making our highways safer for both people and wildlife. Although ARC ultimately plans to highlight stories from across North America, including all 50 States as well as Canada and Mexico, this initial version focuses on efforts to protect wildlife movement corridors and prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions made by 11 Western States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. We hope you enjoy this showcase of completed and planned initiatives featuring a diversity of species, from toads to pronghorn to mountain lions; a range of landscapes, from urban to rural and in between; and a host of public and private partners, from federal, tribal, state and local agencies, to private companies, non-governmental organizations, philanthropic foundations and other stakeholders.

This publication features answers to the most common inquiries and misconceptions regarding wildlife-vehicle collisions and the proven success of wildlife crossing infrastructure in solving this ubiquitous problem. Often, the available scientific literature, peer-reviewed publications, and technical resources are long, complex and not easily digestible. Developed in collaboration with leaders in the scientific research and implementation of wildlife crossings, the most current and accurate information has been distilled within this concise compilation in a question and answer format.

About ARC Solutions. ARC Solutions is an international network whose mission is to identify and promote leading-edge solutions to improve human safety, wildlife mobility and long-term landscape connectivity. We do this by fostering innovation in the placement, design and construction of wildlife crossings. We know these are solutions that work, and we seek to share this knowledge to build support for safe passage. A network of nonprofit, private, public, academic, and philanthropic partners in the U.S. and Canada, the ARC partnership is fiscally sponsored by the Center for Large Landscape Conservation in Bozeman, Montana.

This project was made possible through the generous support of our funders, including the New-Land Foundation and the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative.