Crews wrapping up wildlife crossing project

BUFFALO (WNE) — A 15-mile stretch of Interstate 25 between Buffalo and Kaycee is expected to be much safer for both mule deer and motorists as a wildlife crossing construction project comes to a close.

The interstate divides two southern Johnson County mule deer herds – the Upper Powder River herd on the west side and the Pumpkin Buttes herd on the east. The stretch of highway between mileposts 255 and 270 has the second-highest rate of deer collisions on Wyoming interstates, according to the WYldlife Fund, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department's partner foundation.

Zach Turnbull, Game and Fish's Buffalo biologist, said that while those deer herds are largely nonmigratory, compared with other deer herds around the state that live near priority wildlife crossing construction projects, ungulates grazing near the roadway have driven up mortality rates.

“There are mule deer, antelope and some elk mortality down there,” Turnbull said. “And if something gets killed and an eagle lands on it, an eagle gets hit. So it's good – for people and wildlife – not to have that stuff on the travel lane.”

That's the goal of the $4.4 mil lion project, which is a collaboration between Game and Fish, the Wyoming Department of Transportation, the WYldlife Fund and private donors.

Contractor King Enterprises of Mills is nearly finished constructing 18 miles of fencing on each side of the highway. The fences, parallel to the roadway, funnel wildlife to existing agricultural underpasses that enable them to safely cross the four-lane highway.

This story was published on June 6, 2024.