Hundreds of mule deer are killed along a 25-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 26, roughly centered around Dubois, so a coalition of state agencies and tribal and private groups has pegged it for Wyoming’s next major wildlife crossing project.
It’s hoped that $2.7 million in private money can be raised by July. That should help snag a federal grant to cover the remaining balance of the estimated $28 million for three wildlife underpasses and an overpass. Construction could begin in 2027.
“We’re hedging things conservatively, taking inflationary pressures into account” in estimating how much the price tag could be by 2027, Chris McBarnes, president the WYldlife Fund, told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday.
“If you care about mule deer, there’s not a better project to get behind,” he said.
Hundreds Of Deer Killed Every Year
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department did “a large mitigation study” of wildlife collisions along Highway 26 between mileposts 48 and 73, McBarnes said.
It revealed that several hundred mule deer are killed along that stretch and an estimated $791,000 in damage is done to vehicles very year.
Mule deer, whitetail deer, elk and other species cross the highway there, according to Game and Fish.
Bighorn sheep from the famed Whiskey Mountain Herd, which is battling persistent outbreaks of deadly pneumonia, would also benefit from the wildlife crossings, McBarnes said.
The wildlife crossings, along with fences designed to funnel animals toward safe passages over or under the highway, would be built between mile markers 58-and 66, McBarnes said.
The primary focus would be on the stretch of highway east of Dubois between the Longhorn Ranch and the National Museum of Military Vehicles. Some existing infrastructure could be used, according to Game and Fish.
Major Route For Wildlife And Tourists
Mule deer suffer the most from collisions along that of Highway 26, McBarnes said. The highway cuts right through a major migration route for deer herds, which spend their summers in Grand Teton National stretch Park and winter on the Wind River Indian Reservation. A few of those deer also spend summers in Yellowstone National Park.
The highway sees robust seasonal traffic because it’s one of the most popular routes into the parks, he said.
“That particular route, especially for people coming from the East Coast to go visit the national parks, that’s the route that people like to drive,” he said.
Setting Sights On Federal Bucks
Game and Fish, Native American tribes, the Dubois Outfitters Association, Muley Fanatics and others are partnering on the wildlife crossing project, he said. So far, about $135,000 has been raised toward the goal of $2.7 million in private funding.
Raising that money will greatly increase the chances of being awarded the remaining balance in grants from the Federal Infrastructure Act, McBarnes said.
Federal grants helped fund a pending wildlife crossing project along Highway 189 between Interstate 80 and Kemmerer, and were also used for a recently opened series of underpasses along that same highway between LaBarge and Big Piney.
When the federal grant application for the Highway 26 project is filed, a grant application for a proposed wildlife overpass at Halleck Ridge on I-80 near Elk Mountain will also be filed. No start date has been set for that project.
Mark Heinz can be reached at: Mark@CowboyStateDaily.com
