Testing ‘wildlife friendly’ fence modifications to manage wildlife and livestock movements

Generally, fences along roadways serve as safety measures to humans from vehicular collisions with wildlife and livestock by containing animals in appropriate pastures and keeping them off roadways. However, fences can act as semi-permeable or complete barriers to wildlife movement. As a consequence, through landscape fragmentation, fences reduce landscape connectivity, impede resource selection, and in addition, are a direct cause of mortality in ungulates (e.g. pronghorn, elk, deer) and other species (e.g. sage-grouse). To combat these effects on wildlife, multiple fence modifications have been recommended by management agencies to either facilitate or deter wildlife and/or livestock from crossing fences. However, none of these ‘wildlife friendly’ fence modifications have ever critically been tested for effectiveness. Further, there is not a clear understanding on the effects of fence densities on wildlife movements and on large scale connectivity. Agencies need effective approaches and tools to identify and prioritize locations to install ‘wildlife friendly’ fencing when considering mitigation measures for wildlife movement at both small and large scales, all while keeping livestock in proper pastures. We have deployed 40 remote cameras in MT and ~50 cameras in AB to capture and process images of wildlife interacting with fencing. Standardized procedures across study sites allow us to collect uniform data on wildlife-fence interactions and assess wildlife and livestock use based on statistical procedures.

Record URL:
Supplemental Notes:
- FUNDING MATCH SOURCE AND AMOUNT: National Fish & Wildlife Foundation (NFWF): $119,000, Sage-grouse Initiative: $20,000

Project

Status: Completed
Funding: $55,000
Sponsor Organizations:
University of Montana, Missoula

Missoula, MT United States 59812

The Nature Conservancy - MT Chapter

32 South Ewing
Suite 215
Helena, MT United States 59601

Alberta Conservation Association - Lethbridge

817-4th Avenue South
#400
Lethbridge, Alberta Canada T1J 0P6
Managing Organizations:
Montana Department of Transportation

2701 Prospect Avenue
P.O. Box 201001
Helena, MT United States 59620-1001
Project Managers:
Callejas, Vaneza
Performing Organizations:
University of Montana, Missoula

Missoula, MT United States 59812
Principal Investigators:
Landguth, Erin

Jakes, Andrew
Start Date: 20180619
Expected Completion Date: 20210228
Actual Completion Date: 20210228

Subject/Index Terms

TRT Terms: Fences; Wildlife; Wildlife crossings
Subject Areas: Environment;

Filing Info

Accession Number: 01646214
Record Type: Research project
Source Agency: Montana Department of Transportation
Files: RIP, STATEDOT
Created Date: Sep 19 2017 12:20PM