Wildlife Protection

Keeping It Simple: Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads

"Watch out for elk" signs get motorists to slow down

If you drive along the heavily forested mountain segments of State Route 260 between Payson and Showlow, Arizona, you'll notice this four-part warning sign: "Keep your eyes open and your speed slow. Watch out for elk as you go." To increase motorist awareness about a high elk population along this stretch of SR 260 and to decrease the spiraling number of vehicle-wildlife accidents, the Arizona Department of Transportation placed Burma Shave-style signs like these on both sides of the highway, each part of the message 500 feet apart from the next. The slogans, created by the Department and local school children, have reduced driving speeds on this mountain road and have helped decrease the number of vehicle accidents involving elk and other large game animals.

--Apr 25, 2003

Bruce Eilerts, (602) 712-7398 or beilerts@dot.state.az.us

Photo by Ron Nichols, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Bull elk

Along Roads - Arizona