Wildlife researchers will report tomorrow on a yearlong study of wildlife-vehicle collisions along a 26-mile stretch of state Highway 75 through the Wood River Valley.
In addition to revealing where most of the collisions occurred along the heavily used stretch of roadway, the researchers will also recommend actions local officials can take to reduce violent encounters between critter and moving steel.
The meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at 9 a.m., Thursday, May 29, in the upstairs meeting room at the Old Blaine County Courthouse in Hailey. A second meeting held specifically for the public will take place later that evening in Room 211 at the Hailey Community Campus at 6:30 p.m.
During the first meeting, Dr. Marcel Huijser of the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University will present the final results and mitigation recommendations to the Blaine County Commission and the Wood River Regional Transportation Committee. Huijser will also be on hand during the public meeting later that evening.
Officials from Blaine County and the Idaho Transportation Department requested the study to determine the number and locations of wildlife-vehicle collisions that occur between Timmerman Junction and Ketchum. The one-year study, which wrapped up in March, focused on mule deer and elk.
Roadkill survey data collected by Angela Kociolek, a field biologist working for the transportation institute, were combined with carcass removal data from the Idaho Transportation Department, Idaho State Police accident reports and reports made by the public on the "Ketchum on the Road" wildlife-reporting Web site.
Based on the four sources of information, a minimum of 134 collisions with deer and elk were determined to have occurred in the 26-mile study area in 2007. Minimum estimates from previous years between 2004 and 2006 ranged from 25 to 40 road-killed deer and elk, but these estimates were based on ITD and state police information only, a county news release states.
The news release states that while it's not known whether an increase in deer and elk populations may have played a role in this dramatic increase, the search and reporting effort for deer and elk carcasses was more extensive in 2007 compared to previous years.
Based on reports from the local public, most live and dead deer and elk were seen along the stretch of road from the north end of Hailey to just north of Elkhorn Road. The highest concentration of wildlife-vehicle collisions involving deer and elk was in an approximately one-mile stretch just south of Deer Creek Road.
Elk are commonly there during the winter as they cross the highway from west to east to access open grazing areas in the Peregrine Ranch area.
Blaine County is researching ways to limit wildlife deaths along state Highway 75, above. Photo by Mountain Express
