Photo courtesy of Wyoming Department of Transportation

Part of the Dry Piney Connectivity Project, consisting of 33.4 mi. of 8-ft.-tall deer fence and nine underpasses.

A $37 million wildlife crossing project designed to protect drivers and two mule deer herds is likely to begin construction in 2025, the Cowboy State Daily reported, citing Wyoming wildlife and transportation officials.

Along a 30-mi. stretch of highway between Evanston and Kemmerer, the Kemmerer Wildlife Crossing project on U.S. Highway 189 in southwest Wyoming will add five underpasses, one overpass and fencing improvements. Those features will protect prized Wyoming Range mule deer, Wyoming Game and Fish officials said.

Wyoming Department of Transportation spokeswoman Stephanie Harsha said the project will be put out to bid in May with construction likely starting a few months afterward, the Cowboy State Daily reported.

Photo courtesy of Wyoming Department of Transportation

The project, which will take about two years to complete, is being funded with a $24.3 million federal Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program discretionary grant.

The stretch of U.S. 189 has been described as a wildlife slaughterhouse for wildlife, the Cowboy State Daily said.

"It can be kind of a messy death zone," former Game and Fish Green River wildlife coordinator Mark Zornes previously told the publication.

The Wyoming Range mule deer herd saw nearly two-thirds of its population wiped out during the 2022-2023 winter. Herd numbers went from 30,000 to about 11,000.

The crossing is being built in an area that is part of the deer's migration pattern — and has been the scene of several car and deer collisions, the Cowboy State Daily reported.

State Game and Fish officials say about 80 deer-vehicle collisions are reported in the area annually but believe the figures are underreported. And the stretch of highway is also a likely location for increased development and traffic with a planned nuclear power facility being built nearby.

State officials said the crossing could eliminate between 80-90 percent of wildlife-vehicle collisions, according to the Cowboy State Daily.

Wyoming Game and Fish biologist Grant Foster said wildlife quickly learn to use the crossings.

"In the places they get established, they almost eliminate [mule deer] highway mortalities," Foster told the Cowboy State Daily. "If you just have a big enough view of the other side, then they'll utilize it pretty quick. Because of the high fencing [along the highway], they'll be searching for a way to cross.

"If they feel comfortable with the space underneath, then they'll go ahead and go through it."

The Federal Highway Administration is paying more than 20 percent of the project, with $4.2 million coming from WYDOT. The Wyoming Transportation Commission, Game and Fish Commission, Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust and other nonprofits and private partners added $8.8 million.

Existing wildlife crossing improvements along U.S. 189 include the Trapper's Point crossing and the recently completed Dry Piney Connectivity Project, with 33.4 mi. of 8-ft.-tall deer fence and nine underpasses, Harsha said.

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