New California law addresses wildlife-vehicle collisions

A new law in California addresses concern about wildlife and vehicular traffic interactions throughout the state.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill to require the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to work with the California Department of Transportation to establish a wildlife connectivity action plan.

Previously AB2344, the new law mandates the agencies to identify areas with high rates of wildlife-vehicle collisions and implement priority projects that improve connectivity with passage features that include overpasses, underpasses and directional fencing.

The passage features have been shown to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions by up to 98%, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

The action plan is required to be updated at least once every five years.

Supporters tout crash, insurance numbers

Advocates said action is necessary because the state highway system imposes significant barriers to wildlife habitat connectivity. They add that by reducing the impacts of roads on wildlife that climate change will be improved by facilitating migration. In addition, roadway travel will be safer.

More than 8,000 large game animal-vehicle collisions occurred statewide during a recent six-year period, according to the California Highway Patrol. The incidents resulted in more than 1,500 injuries and at least 24 fatalities to vehicle occupants.

Additionally, based on insurance claims from one insurance provider, California averaged nearly 1,000 collisions monthly with large wildlife over a two-year period.

The University of California, Davis Road Ecology Center estimates the total cost of reported wildlife-vehicle collisions over a 12-month period was at least $300 million.

State and federal funds available

The California Senate Appropriations Committee reported the costs of a wildlife crossing within the state ranges from $1.5 million to $150 million.

Caltrans estimates ongoing costs for the program to be in the “low hundreds of millions of dollars annually.” The costs cover developing the action plan and project list, and to enable the agency to implement at least 10 projects yearly and to fulfill the other requirements of AB2344.

The committee added that recent state and federal allocations for wild animal crossings can aid plans to address the issue.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2021 budget allocated $61 million to build wildlife crossings across the state. The federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes $350 million nationwide over five years for a wildlife crossing pilot program. LL

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