Restoring Ecological Connectivity Across Transportation Corridors - A Partnership Integrating Science & Education

To develop the effective transfer of science-based information that will result in a range of applications useful to transportation planning, practice and policy in areas where road networks and landscape conservation concerns collide.

Canada’s Rocky Mountain Front harbors the richest diversity of large mammals remaining in North America. Vehicle traffic on roads that span through Banff National Park cause some of the most severe impacts on the park’s ecosystem as well as in the entire Yellowstone-to-Yukon region. With the anticipated growth in population and projected highway improvement plans in the Rocky Mountain cordillera, coupled with the concern for maintaining large-scale, landscape connectivity, there will be a growing need to develop conservation tools and applications for addressing the diverse issues linking transport, ecology and local communities. Effective but low-cost mitigation schemes are needed to reduce traffic mortality and functionally link critical habitats. The biggest obstacle to incorporating wildlife crossings in transportation projects is the cost. The best way to ensure the greatest ecological and engineering value for the investment dollar is to investigate innovative wildlife crossing designs that integrate ecological, economic and engineering principles throughout the design process. This project will focus on research, technology transfer and education of restoring ecological connectivity across transportation corridors in mountain landscapes. The primary goal is to develop the effective transfer of science-based information that will result in a range of applications useful to transportation planning, practice and policy in areas where road networks and landscape conservation concerns collide.