EIO editor Kris Millgate produced an Outdoor Idaho episode titled Right of Way for Idaho Public Television in 2024. Enhance what you read here by watching the half-hour show online at: idahoptv.org/shows/outdooridaho
Average number of traffic accidents involving wildlife in Idaho’s major migration corridors. Photo Courtesy of Idaho Public Television.
There are more than 2 million people living in Idaho. All those people have places to go. Wildlife sharing the Gem State with us have places to go too, but giving animals right of way is easier said than done.
“Urban sprawl, rural development is the plague out here now,” says Chad Colter, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes fish and wildlife director. “Pushing animals around is what we do. It’s a sad thing. It’s not just being done here. It’s done all over the West. There’s a fence along every road.”
If wild herds do clear that fence, which is tagged with reflective markers so they see it before they hit it, they still have to dodge traffic on the road. That’s why Idaho Department of Fish and Game created a migration map for the whole state. It reveals 52 major movement corridors for elk, deer and antelope. Add Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) crash statistics to that map and the biggest zones of conflict are obvious.
Traffic accidents involving wildlife are among the highest in three places: Cervidae Peak between Boise and Idaho City with an average of 28 accidents. Rocky Point by Bear Lake averages 29, and Targhee Pass in Island Park averages 48. By comparison, the statewide average is two.
“Ultimately, one of the common denominators is nobody wants to hit a large animal. Right?” says Frank Edelmann, Idaho Department of Fish and Game technical services bureau chief. “Nobody wants to see large animals dead on the side of the road. That’s where we can work together and start to find those solutions that work for those local areas.”
Cervidae Peak has Idaho’s first wildlife overpass. Costing $7 million, it opened in fall 2023. Up to 9,000 mule deer and more than 2,000 elk cross Highway 21 to reach the far end of Lucky Peak Lake where winter is mild compared to their higher-elevation summer range. Now they’re crossing above the cars instead of through them.
“I think it’s major progress to see an overpass finally being built,” says Wendy Terlizzi, Idaho Transportation Department environmental services manager. “It is a very long time coming. It is 20 years in the making to be able to gather the data, secure the funding and to actually get it constructed.”
Crash statistics lead you to assume Targhee Pass in Island Park should be the next construction zone for a crossing, but it’s not. Locals pushed back on ITD’s plans.
“It’s our Main Street. Island Park is a 30-mile-long Main Street,” says Ann Marie Anthony, Island Park resident. “We love the nostalgia of it. We don’t want to see that affected by fencing and massive interstate system.”
So instead, Rocky Point by Bear Lake is next.
“It’s the largest number of animals crossing a narrow pathway to get to and from summer and winter range in the region,” says Zach Lockyer, Idaho Department of Fish and Game southeast regional wildlife manager. “Just the magnitude of that herd and the number of animals crossing a small bottleneck makes it the highest priority.”
A cattle ranch occupies both sides of Highway 30 where the deer have been genetically programmed to cross for centuries. Construction costing $20.8 million for three wildlife underpasses starts in 2026 to safely move those migrators under traffic instead of through it. The rancher welcomes the improvement.
“We’re proud and happy about it and hope it works out good. I’m sure it will,” says Dustin Skinner, Bear Lake County rancher. “I’m sure animals will end up using it and I’m sure it will make a big difference. Save a lot of people having a bad day on the highway.”