Making Connections for Wildlife
Aligning Transportation Projects with State Wildlife Action Plans:  A Step-by-Step Guide for Integrated Conservation Planning

Step One: Assemble Agency Partnership Team

Close collaboration with state transportation and wildlife agencies is the most essential element to developing a framework for ensuring early consideration of wildlife habitat connectivity data during the transportation planning process. Engaging people from both the transportation agency and the wildlife management agency is of critical importance – data can be updated and plans revised, but without the right players at the table even the best State Wildlife Action Plans cannot be implemented. Also recognize that the people involved in long-range transportation planning are not the same as those that are involved in short-term and project planning – each stage has different goals and objectives, and different data and information needs to meet these goals. 

The purpose of the interagency partnership team is manifold: 1) to coordinate between the state wildlife and transportation agencies, 2) to determine at which point in the transportation project planning process wildlife data should be evaluated for possible conflicts, 3) to identify the appropriate personnel responsible for reviewing these data and determining the best measures for avoiding and/or mitigating impacts to these species, 4) to build a framework that educates personnel at all stages of the transportation project planning process on the value of integrating wildlife concerns early in the process to minimize costs and delays, while providing the greatest benefit to wildlife and driver safety. As each state Department of Transportation has different protocols for designing transportation projects, each state must individually determine the process that will be most effective for them in ensuring that wildlife concerns receive appropriate and early consideration.

Colorado Case Study

The Colorado State Wildlife Action Plan identifies habitat fragmentation due to transportation infrastructure as a high priority threat for all of the Tier 1 large and mid-sized mammals (lynx, gray wolf and swift fox). To maintain and restore habitat connectivity for these species, the plan highlights the need for wildlife crossings including wildlife over- and underpasses.

For our Colorado case study, we convened several meetings with a variety of staff from both the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW) including statewide and regional transportation planners, CDOT biologists, engineers, CDOW wildlife department head, and GIS staff from both agencies. The purpose was to engage personnel from both agencies representing the spectrum of personnel engaged in the development of a transportation project to ensure that the connectivity data itself and access to these data met the needs of different end-users. This approach allowed us to pinpoint the most effective point in the process for integrating these data, while ensuring that the data are appropriately used and interpreted for these purposes.

Links:

CDOW Regions                

CDOW Areas

CDOW Districts

Colorado’s Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy

Questions to Ask

·    How does the State Wildlife Action Plan identify species of conservation concern? Is habitat fragmentation identified as a threat to these species? Are transportation impacts specifically identified as a threat? What recommendations are provided in the Plan for dealing with these threats?

·    Who should participate in the Interagency Partnership Team?

Department of Transportation	Division of Wildlife*
-     Biologists	-     SWAP Coordinator
-     Environmental Clearance	-     Wildlife Conservation Manager
-     GIS	-     GIS
-     Project Manager (Engineer)
-     Regional Planner
-     Statewide Planner

* Note: individual species experts do not need to be involved in the Partnership Team, though their contributions are essential in developing the linkage models (Step 2)

·    How can we ensure upper-level support for this project from both agencies?

o       Seek a Letter of Support from the agency when developing the proposal.

o       Find (or create) an appropriate forum for presenting the proposal to upper-level directors (e.g., joint agency meetings, commission meetings) 

Key to Success

·    Recognize the value in bringing diverse people together – from different agencies, as well as from statewide and regional offices within the same agency – to create a successful and easy-to-use system that is functional across the many layers of the agency. Even within the same agency, there may not be clear lines of communication among various departments. Use this collaboration as an opportunity to build communication channels between departments and agencies.

·    Work closely with agency partners to understand their goals, needs and concerns, and be ready to adjust the framework to best meets these needs and concerns.

·    Respect the processes that are already in place. The objective is not to impose, but to integrate into the existing system.

Ensure that people at all levels of the agency understand and are informed of the project – upper level support is necessary to permit staff to devote time and resources towards the project, and further ease data sharing and project ownership over the long-term.