Corridors and Crossings Archives - Center for Large Landscape Conservation

US-93 Overpass, Montana - CLLC/Gabe Oppler

Montana Governor Signs Bill Approving State License Plate to Fund Wildlife Crossings

On May 8, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte signed a bill into law that will help keep drivers and wildlife safe on the state’s roadways. House Bill 855 creates a dedicated fund and authorizes a new state specialty license plate expected to generate up to $160,000 per year. Revenues from sales of the plate will help contribute to the planning, design, and construction of wildlife crossing structures, which have been proven to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. The Center for Large Landscape Conservation (CLLC) supported the bill as part of its work to advance solutions that reconnect fragmented wildlife habitat in Montana and globally.

Collaborative Planning for Ecological Connectivity in Québec

Across deciduous and evergreen forests, lakes, streams and wetlands, working farms and timber lands, Québec, Canada is enormously rich in ecological diversity. However, pressures from people—residential and commercial development, climate change, and pollution—increasingly threaten the biodiversity that depends on intact habitats. Black bears and eastern wolves need wide swaths of land in their home ranges to find food and mates, wood turtles rely on unfragmented corridors to safely reach water sources, and migratory birds need stepping stones of habitat for their seasonal movements.

Orcas At The Kenai Fjords National Park In Alaska. Credit Nps Jim Pfeiffenberger

Blue Corridors: Habitat Connectivity for Marine Species

Oceans cover roughly 71% of Earth’s surface, yet much still remains to be discovered about their vast depths. As scientists learn more about the ocean’s diverse and complex ecosystems, they are shattering preconceived notions and showcasing the interconnectedness of land and sea. Terrestrial wildlife needs habitat connectivity for survival, often relying on ecological corridors between parks and other protected areas. Thanks to research in recent years, it is becoming increasingly clear that habitat connectivity is just as important in the marine environment.

Culvert 1 Sarah Pearce Looking Through Beaver Creek Culvert Surveying A Pool Located Downstream Cole Oshiroleavitt

Going with the Flow: Ensuring Safe Passage for Fish

Each year many fish species, like salmon, make the arduous journey upstream to the headwaters of rivers to spawn, laying thousands of eggs to ensure the continuation of their species. However, not all fish are successful. Some encounter dams too high to jump over, or culverts too shallow to swim through. Others may find that the water temperature at their favorite historical spawning ground is too warm or predators are too easily able to eat them or their eggs.

Reserve rangers and collaborators from the Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan environmental ministries and the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences discuss data entry using the SMART system - CLLC/Gabe Oppler

Transboundary Conservation: Building Partnerships for Shared Landscapes

When lynx, elephants, markhors, bears or elk move in search of water or food, they don’t stop to show their passports at the border or pause to consider which areas are protected; wildlife goes where it needs to survive. In this special feature article for the 2024 Annual Report, interviews with Center staff illuminate the challenges and opportunities associated with several of our current efforts to reconnect landscapes that straddle international borders.

Zebra and giraffe in northern Tanzania - Adobe Stock

Connecting an Iconic Landscape in the Transboundary Region of Kenya and Tanzania

Thirty years ago, the Disney movie the Lion King was released, telling the story of Simba, a young lion prince, who, after the murder of his father Mufasa, flees his kingdom only to learn the true meaning of responsibility and bravery. Other memorable characters are the warthog Pumbaa, the red-billed hornbill Zazu, the mandrill Rafiki, and the meerkat Timon—all species that play a role in the richly biodiverse ecosystems of east Africa. Partly because of this movie, and zoo visits, children and adults around the world are familiar with the wildlife of the iconic landscapes of east Africa.

The Center and the Montana Dept. of Transportation Leverage Community Support for a Wildlife Crossing

In early September, the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) applied to the federal Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program for a discretionary grant to help fund a $26-million project that includes a new wildlife overpass, upgrades to an existing underpass, and a bridge retrofit to allow wildlife to pass safely over and beneath US Highway 191 in Southwest Montana. Through the Montana Wildlife and Transportation Partnership, MDT teamed with the Bozeman-based, nonprofit Center for Large Landscape Conservation to move the grant application forward. US-191 parallels the Gallatin River, cutting through critical habitat for resident, wide-ranging, and migratory species in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Sonoran Pronghorn: Reconnecting Habitat for the Endangered “Desert Ghost”

What does wildlife know of human-made borders? Often, not much; animals generally navigate landscapes without regard for county, state, or country lines—unless impacted by factors such as hunting pressure or habitat loss. Human-made lines on a map don’t necessarily affect wildlife. But what about roads and fences—physical barriers that interrupt their paths? In the case of the endangered Sonoran pronghorn, these barriers are stark realities that threaten their long-term survival.

Young male lion in Kafue National Park - Adobe Stock

A Road Runs Through It

At the heart of the Greater Kafue Ecosystem in Western Zambia is the 22,000-square-kilometer Kafue National Park. This is Zambia’s oldest and largest park, at twice the size of Yellowstone National Park in the USA. Kafue is home to a wide range of iconic wildlife, including elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, and Africa’s most diverse antelope community. This protected area faces many significant threats, but most concerning is the M9—a high-speed highway that bisects or borders 143 kilometers of the park and adjacent Mumbwa Game Management Area. The M9 is notorious for wildlife-vehicle collisions, including the death of 11 endangered African wild dogs to vehicle collisions in 2022. But the Center for Large Landscape Conservation is working to change this with a newly launched project.

The Center Sponsors Book Tour of “CROSSINGS” Author Ben Goldfarb

Back in 2013, conservation journalist Ben Goldfarb toured the Highway 93 wildlife crossings on the Flathead Reservation with crossings expert Marcel Huijser, Center road ecologist Kylie Paul, and others. Little did he know that that day in Montana would send him on a journey to learn more about this world of wildlife crossings, culminating in his literary feat, CROSSINGS: How Road Ecology Is Shaping The Future of Our Planet. Roads are an omnipresent form of travel, but most humans neglect to recognize them as an obstruction to nature’s natural processes as they bisect habitats and fragment landscapes.

Corridors and Crossings