Wildlife corridor project gets funding

NAPLES — The National Fish & Wildlife Foundation is awarding a $99,000 grant to fund a project aimed at curbing vehicle-versus-wildlife collisions on U.S. Highway 95.

The McArthur Lake area has the highest number of wildlife-related collisions in the state, the foundation said. From 2000 and 2010, there were 321 documented wildlife-related crashes between the city of Ponderay and the Naples area.

The safety improvement project would extend from the Elmira area in Bonner County to the Naples area of Boundary County.

During that 10-year time span, two people were killed in wildlife-related crashes and 36 more were injured. All told, the collisions cost an estimated $4.9 million in losses.

The wildlife corridor in which the crashes occurred links the expansive forests of the Selkirk and Cabinet mountain ranges. Each year, deer, elk, moose, black bear and other wildlife frequent the corridor.

The Nature Conservancy is raising nearly $100,000 to match the funds put up by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. The conservancy intends to work closely with the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative to implement the grant.

KVRI is a coalition that includes Boundary County, the city of Bonners Ferry, Idaho’s Kootenai Tribe, state and federal agencies, and conservation groups to solve natural resource issues.

“This grant award will help us protect the safety of our citizens and reduce vehicle damage,” said Dan Dinning, KVRI chairman and a member of the Boundary County commission. “At the same time, we urge motorists to drive carefully and keep an eye out for wildlife, especially at dawn and dusk.”

Project partners will determine which measures are most appropriate based on a cost-benefit analysis. The measures could include wildlife fencing or animal-detection systems which alert motorists to hazards up the road.

“Most of the funding will go toward on-the-ground safety measures along Highway 95,” said Kennon McClintock, the conservancy’s project leader.