Take Action: Support Federal Wildlife Crossings Legislation
KEY MESSAGING POINTS AND DRAFTED TEMPLATE LETTER TO REP. HURD FOR NEW WILDLIFE CROSSINGS PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION ACT
Colorado Can Build a Safer Path for Wildlife and Drivers Alike
A few years back, I hit an elk at night near the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport. My car was totaled. Miraculously, I was OK — but not everyone is that lucky. The collision shook me. And what lingers is the question of who else could have been hurt if I hadn’t been driving alone? Even worse is knowing that it could have been prevented.
Officials Must Take Action
Last spring I had an experience on my commute home from work on Highway 82 (between the airport and Brush Creek Road) that could easily have ended in tragedy. While driving home in the dark, an elk ran into the road, and before I even had time to react, it slammer into my car.
Seven Animals, Five Hours, 20 Miles
One morning early this week, as I turned onto Highway 133 toward Carbondale, I watched a young buck weave through traffic. Minutes later, driving toward Aspen, I passed a freshly killed elk calf and a deer near Aspen Village, an abandoned SUV with a crushed front end nearby. On my return trip, I witnessed a large buck struck by a vehicle near Red Hill, left alive but paralyzed as cars swerved around him on the blind curve. In less than five hours, on a 20-mile stretch of road, I encountered seven dead or dying animals.
We Need to Get Going on Hwy 92 Wildlife Crossings
Over the last two weeks I have counted eight dead elk or deer along Highway 82 between Snowmass Canyon and the Aspen airport — it is heartbreaking. This means there are at least eight people who have been traumatized with wrecked vehicles and I hope no physical injuries.
Wildlife Crossings Make Economic and Ethical Sense
Wildlife crossings over and under highways save lives, are cost effective and enhance the vitality and ecological functioning of the large landscapes they connect. These crossings require community engagement and creative strategies to get them done.
Why Highway 82 Needs Wildlife Crossings: Ten Inches Between Life and Death
None of these practices however were enough to prevent what is probably the closest call I have ever had to meeting my maker on the evening of April 11th. I was nearing the airport and just coming out of the shale bluffs section, and certainly not speeding. (The Subaru does not go very fast). I was in the left lane, about 5 feet from the cement dividers. My Subaru is not very tall compared to many cars, and my headlights were below the height of the cement dividers essentially meaning I could not see over the top of them, nor what might be in the down valley lanes heading my way.