Colorado Can Build a Safer Path for Wildlife and Drivers Alike
By Chris Davenport
To this day, nothing gets my adrenaline pumping like dropping into a steep exposed face in the backcountry. That rush, that moment where every second matters, is what I live for. Nothing compares.
Well, almost nothing.
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.
The crash happened along Highway 82, a road I know well. It cuts directly through vital seasonal habitats that wildlife migrate between. Over just a six-mile stretch — from the airport to Aspen Village — there have been more than 300 reported wildlife-vehicle collisions in the last decade. That includes 107 elk and 14 bear incidents. Those are just the ones that got reported.
In 2022 alone, more than 7,000 animals were hit and killed across Colorado. And who knows how many close calls, injuries or tragic outcomes there were for drivers and passengers. Unfortunately, the trend is getting worse. Along this same stretch of Highway 82, we now see an average of 5.6 wildlife-vehicle collisions per mile, per year. Traffic volumes are projected to climb to roughly 26,400 vehicles a day by 2045. It’s a dangerous slope we’re heading down.
And it’s not just about driver safety — this impacts aviation too. Near the airport, where I had my crash, wildlife carcasses attract scavenging birds. These large birds pose a serious risk to planes taking off and landing, creating a different kind of collision danger altogether.
The good news? There’s a solution that can nearly eliminate these devastating crashes. Wildlife crossings — bridges and underpasses designed to help animals safely move across highways — are a proven way to reduce collisions and keep both wildlife and people safer. On Highway 9 between Kremmling and Green Mountain Reservoir, the installation of wildlife crossings led to a 92% reduction in wildlife-vehicle collisions. That’s not just a win for wildlife — that’s a win for drivers, families and our state resources.
The Colorado Department of Transportation does tremendous work, but they’re stretched thin managing 23,000 miles of highways, many of which weave through critical wildlife habitat. Building more crossings would ease that burden while protecting the natural treasures that make Colorado so unique.
This past legislative session, our statewide wildlife-crossing coalition was incredibly close to passing a bill that would have secured continual state funding for these life-saving projects. It had strong champions, including Gov. Jared Polis, Sens. Dylan Roberts and Faith Winter, and Reps. Andy Boesenecker and Meghan Lukens. But just like skiing a technical line, sometimes you fall short on the first attempt. You regroup, assess and drop in again. I’m hopeful we’ll be back next year — and I look forward to the continued support from our own local elected officials, Sen. Marc Catlin and Rep. Elizabeth Velasco, to finish what we started.
In the meantime, we have an opportunity right here in the Roaring Fork Valley to make progress. Roaring Fork Safe Passages, a community-led organization, is working to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions along Highway 82 by proposing a series of wildlife-crossing projects. These include improving fencing and building overpasses or underpasses for wildlife to safely cross the road in areas where there is a high volume of crashes with animals.
When I first started skiing in Aspen, I knew this was where I wanted to plant roots. Raise a family. Build a business. This place is special — not just for the powder days, but for the summer hikes, the golden aspens in fall and the wildlife that call these mountains home. Elk, mule deer, bears, bighorn sheep — they’re part of Colorado, part of the magic that makes our home so vibrant.
But that magic is under threat. As traffic grows, so do the collisions. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can blaze a different trail — one that protects people and wildlife alike. One that keeps our roads safer, our habitats connected and our community engaged.
As any skier knows, sometimes the safest line is the one you plan ahead for — the one you scout, build and commit to. Let’s do that here. Let’s build the crossings. Let’s keep Aspen and the entire Centennial State wild — and safe — for generations to come.
Originally posted as an op-ed in the Aspen Daily News.
