The nation’s only dedicated federal funding for wildlife crossings is set to expire in 2026, just as states like Montana are building momentum behind solutions to deadly wildlife-vehicle collisions. A new bipartisan bill in Congress, led by representatives Ryan Zinke of Montana and Don Beyer of Virginia, aims to prevent that lapse by permanently authorizing the Wildlife Road Crossings Program and securing long-term support for projects across Greater Yellowstone and the country.
In the last year, Montana, the state with the second-highest per-capita rate of wildlife-vehicle collisions, has made its own landmark investments. Mountain Journal reported in July on House bills 855 and 932, legislation creating the state’s first dedicated funding streams for wildlife crossings.
Those state commitments arrive at a critical moment, with the 2021 Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program, funded through the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and responsible for 35 projects in nearly 30 states, set to expire in September 2026. H.R. 6078, known as the Wildlife Road Crossings Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 would extend that program through fiscal year 2031.
Neither Zinke nor Beyer responded to requests for comment. In a November 18 press release, Zinke said wildlife crossings were important for healthy wildlife herds and also saved lives.
“As the Secretary of the Interior I launched the first federal effort to protect big-game migration corridors and dedicate federal dollars to crossings in the west,” he said in the release. “This bill locks in the progress we started, keeps the funding flowing to the states and tribes that need it most, and ensures Montana families don’t have to risk their lives or lose the wildlife we all cherish driving to work or school.”
Rebecca Boslough King, U.S. program policy specialist for the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, told Mountain Journal that permanent authorization of the program is essential for meeting the scale of need.
“A permanently authorized Wildlife Crossings Program would help address the high demand for crossing projects across the country, supporting habitat connectivity and helping to address the pervasive issue of wildlife-vehicle collisions in the U.S.,” she said.
Such authorization would give states, Tribes and local partners confidence that the program will remain in place, allowing them to pursue complex, multiyear projects that cannot be squeezed into short funding windows.
“Wildlife safety crossings placed in areas of known wildlife movement have been shown to reduce motorist collisions with wildlife by up to 97 percent.”
Renee Callahan, executive director, ARC Solutions
The human and ecological stakes are high. Wildlife-vehicle collisions kill 200 people each year and injure at least 26,000 in the U.S., according to King, at an annual cost to Americans of more than $10 billion.
“In addition to the human toll, an underestimated 1-2 million large animals are killed by motorists every year — roughly one animal every 26 seconds — and the total number of road-killed animals is estimated to be 365 million per year, or roughly 1 million animals per day,” King said.
Animal Road Crossing Solutions, or ARC, focuses on wildlife crossing solutions and is a project of the nonprofit group Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs. Renee Callahan, ARC’s executive director, praised sees wildlife crossings as a no-brainer to limiting wildlife-vehicle collisions and expanding passageways for animals to travel and praised H.R. 6078.
“Unlike so many issues we face, the good news is there are proven solutions to this problem,” Callahan wrote in an email to Mountain Journal. “Wildlife safety crossings placed in areas of known wildlife movement have been shown to reduce motorist collisions with wildlife by up to 97 percent — a virtually unheard of ‘return-on-investment’ when it comes to transportation investments.”
The pilot Wildlife Crossings Program created in 2021 was a milestone, according to King, but its five-year, $350-million framework is already falling short of demand. “Right now, the program expires too soon for the kinds of projects Montana and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem need,” she said.
Overpasses, underpasses, multi-mile fencing, engineering studies, and community agreements often take more than five years from concept to construction. Without a longer runway, agencies struggle to start the projects the program envisions.
At right, the existing Gallatin Gateway Bridge on Highway 191 at the mouth of the Gallatin Canyon. At right, a conceptual bridge retrofit. CREDIT: CLLC, WTI
Demand has dramatically exceeded available funding. In two rounds of funding, states requested more than $1.1 billion, which is nearly five times what the program could offer. “Permanently authorizing [the program] and extending funding through 2031 could unlock major projects that are currently held in early planning and enable important future projects,” King said.
That includes sites already identified along Montana’s US-191 and MT-64, as well as Tribal-led projects such as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ new overpass near the Ninepipe Wildlife Management Area. The bill’s 100 percent federal cost share for Tribes could also be transformative in that the tribes would not be required to supply a nonfederal match.
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem stands out nationally both for its migrations and its mounting transportation pressures. Some segments of US-191 show collision rates of 24 percent, far above the national 5 percent average. On US-89, half of all reported vehicle crashes involve wildlife. The region’s combination of ecological value and high collision intensity, King said, could make it a strong candidate for future funding rounds if long-term support becomes reality.
“The total number of road-killed animals is estimated to be 365 million per year, or roughly 1 million animals per day.”
Rebecca Boslough King, Center for Large Landscape Conservation
Misty Boos, U.S. conservation policy manager for the wildlife restoration nonprofit Wildlands Network told Mountain Journal that wildlife crossings save lives, both human and wildlife, and the need for more of them is urgent. “Extending and increasing funding for this program is critical to ensure these proven safety measures can reach communities in Montana and across the country that need them,” Boos said.
Permanent authorization would not only build wildlife-crossing structures but also stabilize the science behind them. “Consistent funding can enable researchers to build and maintain multiyear datasets,” said King, citing CLLC’s and Montana State University’s US-191/MT-64 Wildlife and Transportation Assessment that drew on nearly 20 years of elk telemetry data to understand migration and connectivity, and inform project planning.
In the GYE, a place defined by movement of elk herds, mule deer, pronghorn, bears and people, the future of wildlife connectivity may depend on whether Congress sees crossings not as temporary experiments, but as permanent solutions.
