CNE Linking Colorado's Landscapes Species Movement Arrows

In a step towards implementing our Vision, SREP completed a statewide assessment of wildlife linkages in collaboration with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the Federal Highway Administration, The Nature Conservancy, and Colorado State University, identifying and prioritizing wildlife linkages across the state of Colorado. The goal of this work is to provide transportation planners, state and federal agencies, community leaders, engineers, and conservationists with a statewide vision for reconnecting habitats that are vital for maintaining healthy populations of native species.

Both the Federal Highway Administration and CDOT have begun promoting wildlife crossings in their transportation plans and construction projects. While much of the work to date is preliminary, CDOT has completed an analysis of the Interstate 70 (I-70) transportation corridor that identified 13 key wildlife-crossing areas. Agency support for wildlife connectivity is critical to the survival of wildlife populations at both a local and a regional scale. Through Linking Colorado's Landscapes SREP expanded upon CDOT's work on I-70 to analyze connectivity needs for wildlife across the entire state.

To achieve the goals of the project, SREP utilized a two-track approach that integrated local and regional expertise, as well as computer modeling. The first track - or 'expert track' ��� consisted of a series of interagency workshops held across the state to identify both functioning and degraded wildlife linkages vital to wildlife populations. The workshop participants then evaluated the characteristics and existing condition of each identified linkage.

The second track - or 'computer modeling track' - considered the same questions within the framework of a geographic information system (GIS). Colorado State University research scientist Dr. Dave Theobald lead this effort. Dr. Theobald combined layers of spatial data about landscape characteristics (e.g., topography, rivers and streams) with wildlife habitat preferences and movement patterns to model areas of the landscape that are important for wildlife movement. The highest priority linkages identified by each of these tracks were then combined with CDOT animal-vehicle collision data and transportation planning data to select a subset of high-priority wildlife linkages for further assessment.