As the Wyoming Game and Fish Department enters the third phase of its elk feedground management plan, conservation groups are calling on the state to prioritize the health of the Greater Yellowstone region's wild herds and begin shutting down 22 state-run feedgrounds in northwestern Wyoming, where tens of thousands of elk are artificially fed each winter.

Kristin Combs, executive director of Wyoming Wildlife Advocates, said the move is essential for mitigating the spread of chronic wasting disease.

"And we know that chronic wasting disease is definitely going to have a significant impact on the herd health," Combs pointed out. "The feedgrounds just set up this perfect recipe for basically a petri dish for the proliferation of disease."

Comprehensive recommendations delivered this week by Combs' group and five others call for the agency to phase out all state-run feedgrounds no later than 2028. The biggest challenge to phaseouts has come from the state's livestock industry, which has long argued feeding elk keeps them away from cattle and grazing areas.

After a series of public presentations and meetings with designated stakeholders, Game and Fish is expected to issue a draft feedground management plan early next year. Combs noted Wyoming is the only western state still feeding wild animals, and there are other proven methods for keeping cattle and elk separated.

"Fencing around hay stores, or fencing to keep cattle and elk separate," Combs outlined. "Other states have certainly done that, and have relied upon landowners to take some responsibility for that as well."

Other groups urging the phaseout include the Gallatin Wildlife Association, Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, Sierra Club, Western Watersheds Project and Yellowstone to Uintas Connection.

The recommendations call for protecting existing elk migration corridors, and for restoring corridors disrupted by decades of artificial feeding. Conservation groups also want the new plan to recognize the important role native carnivores play in reducing the spread of chronic wasting disease and brucellosis.

"They pick up on these infirmities and are able to key into which animals are the weakest," Combs explained. "That has a cleansing effect on herds, and can pull out some of those animals that are sick before they have a chance to spread the disease."

Reducing the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions is the goal of a bill before the New Mexico Legislature this session.

Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, is a co-sponsor, after steering passage of the New Mexico Wildlife Corridors Act in 2019. Stewart said residential and commercial development combined with climate change have fragmented wildlife habitat, forcing animals to cross roads with heavy traffic in some areas.

"So, it's about a $20 million problem, between health and car accidents," Stewart pointed out. "It's hard to put a price on killing wildlife."

Eddy, Lincoln and Otero counties have been identified as having some of the most dangerous highways in the state for local wildlife, frequently killed by motorists. State data also shows between 2002 and 2018, more than 11,000 deer were involved in crashes, or about 671 each year.

The state's 2022 Wildlife Corridors Action Plan identified 11 safe-passage projects to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions and restore habitat connectivity.

Jeremy Romero, regional connectivity director for the National Wildlife Federation, said the measure would create a $50 million dedicated fund to support implementation.

"Really, this bill is kind-of a next step to the Wildlife Corridors Action Plan, which was prioritized and developed via the first piece of legislation," Romero explained. "This is the most critical step, because without the funding, we can't accomplish these projects."

While expensive, Romero argued wildlife crossings can be an effective solution.

"I have a lot of friends and family that have hit wildlife in various different capacities, some having a little bit more damage than others," Romero noted. "You hear about it all the time, and it's a big issue not only across New Mexico, but the country."

He added it is estimated completing all 11 of the safe-passage projects would cost about $350 million.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Two state agencies have teamed up to make safer wildlife migration a priority in Utah.

The Utah Wildlife Migration Initiative relies heavily on GPS tracking data received from mammals, birds and fish, which gives coordinators a good picture of where animals are spending time, the routes they take, and areas where safe migration routes are needed.

It is a joint project of the state's Division of Wildlife Resources and Department of Transportation.

Blair Stringham, wildlife migration initiative coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said they have now completed more than a hundred projects, and for them to be effective, they have to align with animals' tendencies and behaviors.

"Some of the really cool things we have done though, we've been able to install overpasses, which are essentially bridges going over roadways so animals can move back and forth," Stringham explained. "They've been really successful, with a lot of different animal species."

Stringham pointed out they have also been able to install underpasses, as well as fencing projects to keep wildlife off roads. They have even found ways to help fish move from one stretch of river to other tributaries if they were cut off by roadways.

Stringham emphasized helping animals migrate can save their lives in the process. Even so, about 4,900 deer were killed last year due to vehicle collisions. Stringham acknowledged many people do not realize the material damage which results from these accidents can add up quickly. He added keeping wildlife off the roads keeps people safer, too, and the evidence shows the projects are helping.

"We tend to see a huge improvement in the number of collisions with wildlife when we do these kinds of projects," Stringham observed. "We've seen anywhere from 75% to 90% success on most of these."

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources recently released an app, called the "Utah Roadkill Reporter." It allows anyone to report animals killed on the road as they come across them. Stringham stated it helps contractors locate and remove carcasses, and the data is also used to plan future projects to help prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions.

Migrating wildlife can struggle with the extensive fencing throughout the West, and a new study is filling in the gaps on where these fences are in southwest Montana.

Simon Buzzard, senior coordinator of wildlife connectivity for the National Wildlife Federation and the report's lead author, said the variety of wildlife in the region is extensive, from large mammals such as pronghorn, mule deer and grizzly bears, to ground-nesting birds such as sage grouse.

"This host of species that migrate between public lands and private lands, across elevation changes and across state borders; we don't know how fences are impacting those movements," Buzzard pointed out. "That's why it's important to create this data."

Fences are designed to contain livestock movement on working lands but can entangle other species moving through the region. Buzzard noted more wildlife friendly fencing designs can help migrating animals better navigate fenced areas. He added hard-to-navigate fencing is an issue not just on private lands but public lands as well.

The preference is for fencing to be no higher than 40 inches, and for bottom wires to be at least 18 inches off the ground.

"To allow for sensitive species like pronghorn to go under but also for juveniles of other species," Buzzard emphasized. "Juvenile elk, juvenile moose, black bears. A lot of these large-bodied mammals still prefer to go under fences than to go over them."

Buzzard's study found only 3% of sampled fences in Beaverhead and Madison counties had bottom wires 18 inches or higher and only 6% had top wires of 40 inches or lower.

He noted financing is available for landowners to convert existing fencing into wildlife-friendly fencing, especially if a lot of big game species move across their lands.