Wildlife fences in combination with wildlife crossing structures are effective strategies for reducing collisions with large mammals and providing safe crossing opportunities for wildlife. However, in rural landscapes there are access roads for agriculture, dispersed housing, and other roads, resulting in short road sections with a wildlife fence and gaps in the fences at access roads. For example, along US 93 North on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, wildlife guards at access roads have proved to be an effective barrier for deer species, but they are quite permeable to species with paws, such as bears. To further improve human safety and reduce road mortality of wildlife, additional measures are needed at access roads.

The research team will investigate measures and barrier designs that are more likely to keep large wildlife species out of the fence road corridor at access roads and fence-ends. In the first task, the team will investigate measures aimed at reducing intrusions of large wild mammals, especially carnivores, at gaps in wildlife fences through a literature review and field experiments. The second task will focus on investigating measures to increase the use of wildlife jump-outs be deer species (white-tailed deer and mule deer) through a literature review and field experiments.

One of the field experiments is supported by a companion project: Wildlife Barriers at Access Roads Along a Highway in a Multi-functional Landscape on the Flathead Indian Reservation.