The New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and New Mexico Department of Transportation have completed a plan recommending construction projects to reduce the risk that wildlife poses to motorists.
Jesse Deubel, executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, said he’s pleased to see the release of the Draft Wildlife Corridors Action Plan.
“Wildlife are stressed by climate change and development that’s increasing encroaching on their habitat in every corner of our state,” Deubel said. “Protecting migration corridors is a top priority for the federation and we’re pleased to see this effort get the attention it deserves at the highest levels of our state government.”
The Draft Wildlife Corridors Action Plan released this week is the result of legislation that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into law nearly three years ago. It put up $500,000 for the study to identify priority areas to reduce the risk that migrating wildlife poses to motorists and to address how to protect future wildlife migration. Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, sponsored the measure.
Jeremy Romero, regional connectivity coordinator with the National Wildlife Federation in New Mexico, participated in developing the plan.
The action plan takes a significant step toward addressing habitat fragmentation and disruption of wildlife corridors caused by the rising human population and increased vehicle traffic, Romero said.
“The NM wildlife corridors action plan takes a significant step in helping to address these issues by identifying important roadway hotspots where the most wildlife vehicle collisions occur and therefore recommending potential future projects to mitigate and reduce those interactions,” Romero said.
“The wildlife corridors action plan also models migration corridors so state agencies, federal agencies and stakeholders can take the proper steps to proactively protect or enhance these important habitats,” Romero said.
“The release of the action plan does not stop here,” Romero said. “Finding and leveraging funding opportunities to accomplish these projects is the next step. The plan identifies the projects but does not tell us how to fund them. With federal infrastructure funding soon available and the state in a revenue surplus. The state of New Mexico is greatly positioned to compete and leverage state and federal funding to accomplish these projects.”
The release of the state report comes just months after President Joe Biden signed into law the federal Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program. The federal program puts up $350 million for grants to states and other entities to fund construction of wildlife crossings.
New Mexico’s legislative session starts next week and the NMWF will be pushing for the state to allocate matching funds to free up federal funding.
The state plan addresses vehicle crashes involving six species: mule deer, elk, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, black bear and cougar.
The plan doesn’t specify how long it would take to build the projects it identifies as priorities and also doesn’t recommend sources of funding. Even after funding is secured, it’s likely it would take years to design and complete major projects such as overpasses.
The plan recommends the following 10 projects as top priorities:
_ US 550 North of Cuba: $45 million to address a 17-mile long stretch of highway. The plan calls for construction of four overpasses, four single-span bridges, and one arch culvert, combined with 14 miles of wildlife exclusion fencing..
_ US 180 NM 90 Silver City: $39.4 million to address 27 miles of roadway, covering essentially all roads to and through Silver City. The plan calls for construction of two overpasses along US 180, construction of seven wildlife underpass culverts and replacement or retrofitting of many existing culverts. The project calls for 12.5 miles of wildlife exclusion fencing.
_ US 70 and NM 48 Ruidoso: $30.7 million to address a wildlife-vehicle collision hotspot centered around the Ruidoso. The project area is 34 miles long and includes multiple roads. Plans include construction of one overpass and eight wildlife underpass bridges. It also calls for retrofitting existing bridges and culverts and installing about 8.7 miles of wildlife exclusion fencing.
_ I-25 Glorieta Pass: $21 million to address a segment of I-25 at Glorieta Pass. Plans call for construction of an overpass, a bridge and three arch culverts in addition to installation of several miles of wildlife exclusion fencing.
_ US 70 Bent-Sacramento Mountains: $28 million for improvements including installing a potential warning system for motorists as well as construction of an overpass, five bridges to replace existing culverts, two arch culverts and fences extending for 6 miles.
_ US 64/US 84 Chama from South of Tierra Amarilla to Chama to US 64/84 Junction and US 84 to Colorado: $50.6 million to address the area from south of Tierra Amarilla north to Chama, west to the junction of US 64 and US 84, and north to the Colorado border on US 84, for a total of 38 miles. Plans call for construction of 7 overpasses, 10 underpass span bridges, and 1 new box culvert underpass along with 34.8 miles of fencing.
_ US 285 Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument: $28.6 million to address the corridor from Tres Piedras approximately 25 north, within and outside of the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument. The first phase of construction calls for two overpasses and a bridge. The next phase calls for two more overpasses and two bridges. Plans also call for animal detection systems and a third phase of construction that would include another bridge and more culverts and installation of 11.8 miles of fencing.
_ Pronghorn Triangle Wildlife Corridor: $30.6 million for work on segments of US 64, NM 505, and NM 445 south of Raton to Maxwell. The plan calls for construction of two overpasses, two bridges, two sets of arch culverts, and 19 miles of wildlife exclusion fence.
_ I-10 Peloncillo Mountains – Steins Wildlife Corridor: $46.2 million to address areas bisected by I-10 running east-west in the “Bootheel” area. The plan recommends construction of one or two overpass structures for desert bighorn sheep, and three bridge underpasses and three culvert underpasses to accommodate other animals. The plan recommends installation of 3.3 miles of wildlife exclusion fence.
_ I-25 and US 550 Sandia-Jemez Mountains – Bernalillo Wildlife Corridor: $49.3 million to address the Sandia-Jemez Mountains corridor. Recommendations for US 550 include construction of four overpasses, two underpass culverts, and 7 miles of fence to tie into existing and future structures. Along I-25, recommendations call for construction of one overpass, one bridge underpass, and 19 miles of wildlife exclusion fence.
_ NM 38 Questa to Red River Wildlife Corridor: $17.2 million to address 9 miles of NM 38 from Questa to Red River. Plans call for building three overpasses for bighorn sheep, one wildlife underpass bridge, and 7.6 miles of wildlife exclusion fence that would also direct animals to two existing culverts. An animal-activated warning system is also recommended for each end of the exclusion fence.
Public comments on the plan are being accepted from Jan. 12 to March 12. To review the plan, click HERE. Comments may be submitted by email at Wildlife.Corridors@state.nm.us.
Comments may also be directed by mail to:
Draft Wildlife Action Plan
Attn: Matthew Haverland
1120 Cerrillos Road, Rm 206
P.O. Box 1149
Santa Fe, NM 87505