The US Fish & Wildlife Service as well as other stakeholders (e.g. naturalists including bird watchers) have been concerned about the high number of animals being killed along the section of State Hwy 49 that bisects Horicon Marsh for well over a decade. In response, US Fish & Wildlife Service employees initiated a road-kill monitoring program. Several mitigation measures have been proposed in the past, but no mitigation has been implemented yet (situation 2014). This report contains an analysis of the existing wildlife road-kill data, especially for amphibians and reptiles, birds, and mammals. In addition it contains the results of interviews with different stakeholder groups; employees from natural resource management agencies, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, and non-governmental organizations/university. The interviews focused on the problems related to State Highway 49 and wildlife as the individual stakeholders experienced it, their level of support for the implementation of various avoidance, mitigation and compensation strategies, how likely it is that the measures will be implemented in the future, and the problems that may be associated with the different measures. Based on the existing road-kill data and the interviews with stakeholders, the researchers formulated a series of objectives and suggested accompanying measures. The final recommendations were presented as different “packages” of measures, including how well they address the different potential objectives.
WTI is developing recommendations for mitigating State Highway 49, about 2.5 miles in length, where it bisects Horicon marsh. The recommendations will encompass mitigation for amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
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