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Wildlife Protection

Keeping It Simple: Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads

Along Roads

Every year cars, vans, and trucks traveling on America's public roads kill millions of animals. Highway construction, like urban and residential development, often destroys or fragments their habitat. Critter Crossings: Linking Habitats and Reducing Roadkill highlights some successful overpasses, underpasses, and resource management approaches that are helping to meet this challenge.

On these Keeping It Simple pages you'll read about numerous "easy," complementary strategies that help make roads more wildlife friendly. You'll also read about simple ways states are managing roadside habitats...minimizing highway construction's impact on sensitive species...controlling highway runoff so it doesn't pollute water and harm aquatic life...and improving roadside lighting so it doesn't disrupt the flight pattern of migratory birds.

Title: Tortoise ramps
State: Arizona
Title: Elk proof fencing
State: Arizona
Title: A "fence" made of boulders keeps elk off a busy highway
State: Arizona
Title: "Electric crosswalk" cuts elk roadkill by 96 percent
State: Arizona
Title: "Watch out for elk" signs get motorists to slow down
State: Arizona
Title: Sturdy fence cuts tortoise roadkill by 75%
State: Arizona
Title: Not mowing "excess" right of way benefits wildlife
State: Arkansas
Title: Less mowing of roadside "transition zones" creates new wildlife habitat
State: Arkansas
Title: Not a Single Turtle Death on This Highway, Thanks to Turtle Fencing
State: Arkansas
Title: Saving non-economic "remnants" along roads for wildlife habitat
State: Arkansas
Title: Clearing vegetation protects red-legged frog
State: California
Title: Training helps keep desert tortoises safe
State: California
Title: Using Gravel to Unblock Desert-Tortoise Culverts
State: California
Title: Small measures protect a little fox - big time
State: California
Title: Median-Barrier Gaps Let Animals Cross the Highway
State: California
Title: Plastic "Toad Wall" Guarantees Safe Trip to Wildlife Crossing
State: Colorado
Title: Fixing Wildlife-Crossing "Ledges to Nowhere"
State: Florida
Title: Dimmer lights mean safer flights for shorebirds
State: Hawaii
Title: Culvert ledges offer phoebes more nest options
State: Illinois
Title: Higher lights, safer flights for bats along roads
State: Indiana
Title: "Critter Barrier" Protects Prairie Reptiles, Amphibians, and Small Mammals
State: Iowa
Title: Catch basin keeps road chemicals away from wildlife
State: Iowa
Title: Rock-brush piles create safe home for little snake
State: Kansas
Title: Endangered woodpeckers move into human-made homes
State: Louisiana
Title: Two trenches protect lake fish from highway runoff
State: Maine
Title: Natural berm controls runoff in a small space
State: Maine
Title: Silt fence, buckets, and volunteers prove curb is safe for salamanders
State: Maryland
Title: On Track with "Turtle Tracks"
State: Massachusetts
Title: Fence with an "angle" protects gopher tortoises
State: Mississippi
Title: Ferruginous hawk nest is relocated and rebuilt
State: Montana
Title: Nesting platforms protect osprey nests near road construction
State: Montana
Title: Ground-nesting birds gain habitat along a state parkway
State: New York
Title: "Living snow fences" benefit both wildlife and motorists
State: New York
Title: Nest boxes create more homes for kestrels, wood ducks, and other native species
State: New York
Title: Composting Roadkilled Deer Keeps Scavengers at Bay
State: New York
Title: Old Guide Rail is "Guide Fence" for Traveling Salamanders
State: New York
Title: "Perch poles" give bald eagles a bird
State: Oklahoma
Title: "Quiet" guardrails protect spotted owls from percussive noise
State: Oregon
Title: Donating Roadkilled Deer to Rescued White Wolves
State: Oregon
Title: "Special Management Areas" Preserve Endangered Butterfly Habitat
State: Oregon
Title: Donated signposts help protect migrating turtles
State: South Carolina
Title: No roadside mowing during nesting season protects game birds
State: South Dakota
Title: Not trimming palm fronds saves baby bats
State: Texas
Title: Patience and Resourcefulness Protect Mexican Free-Tail Bats
State: Texas
Title: Turning a box culvert into a bat culvert
State: Texas
Title: Mandating "natural" erosion control matting helps crawling critters
State: Vermont
Title: Bringing back quail with native grasses
State: Virginia
Title: Making Drainage Pipes and Culverts Larger so Wildlife Will Use Them
State: Virginia
Title: "Fish Sticks" Help Protect Salmon Habitat
State: Washington
Title: New roadsides get less clearing, more wildlife habitat
State: West Virginia
Title: Planting a few seeds pays off for an endangered butterfly
State: Wisconsin
Title: Innovative revegetation methods create wildlife habitat and "natural" roadside
State: Wyoming
Title: Wood tops on deer fences reduce injury and death
State: Wyoming
Updated: 12/12/2012
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