An amazing nexus of natural systems can be found in the area south of Ashland and extending to the California border.
The Klamath Mountains, the high desert of the Great Basin, the volcanic Cascades, and the oak woodlands of Northern California all converge here with the historic Siskiyou Mountains.
The region was named an ecological wonderland in 2000 and is home to a diverse range of plants and animals. It was also named the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.
Interstate 5 transports 17,000 vehicles daily, slicing across all that wildlife. The monument is effectively divided in half by the four-lane highway.
Moving from one side of the road to the other is difficult for animals. However, because of its position, the area is a hotspot for wildlife and is regarded as a red zone for car crashes.
Tim Greseth, executive director of the Oregon Wildlife Foundation, tells Columbia Insight that the amount of traffic on most sections of I-5 would be seen as a permanent obstacle to wildlife mobility. The peculiarity of this site is that it is right in the center of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, which was created mainly because of the area’s biodiversity.
There is now positive news for both drivers and animals.
An illustration of the first wildlife overcrossing in Oregon, which is planned to be located just north of the California border.ODOT
A $33 million federal grant to the Oregon Department of Transportation will soon make the area much safer by building a large wildlife crossing over I-5 just north of the Oregon-California border.
According to the ODOT website, the funding win would enable ODOT to build a wildlife bridge over Interstate 5 in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon. For Oregon and the whole I-5 corridor between Mexico and Canada, this will be the first wildlife overcrossing.
The Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition, which was established in 2021 to advocate for animal crossings in the monument, led years of effort and cooperation that culminated in the grant win for the Southern Oregon Wildlife Overcrossing, which was announced in December.
In order to promote wildlife crossings throughout the state, the 2021 Oregon Legislature established a pot of money, from which ODOT will contribute an additional $3.8 million in matching payments.
ODOT anticipates that construction will start in 2028.
Undercross against overcross
In Oregon, authorities report over 6,000 car crashes involving deer and elk annually.
Crossings for wildlife effectively lessen these collisions.
According to ODOT and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the six wildlife undercrossing tunnels that are now in place in Oregon have reduced vehicle-animal collisions in affected areas by 80–90%.
According to Greseth, there is a significant benefit to performing overcrossings as opposed to undercrossings. The variety of species used at overcrossings is significantly greater. Every person would likely approach an underpass with some apprehension if they were thinking about how they may approach something when they were traveling beneath a busy road. Animals won’t be any different.
In order to make the proposed I-5 overcross feel safer for wildlife, it will include landscaping, vegetation, and soil. Along its length, it will have sound walls and retaining walls to block off interstate noise and protect wildlife from roadlights.
ODOT spokesperson Julie Denney stated that wide pathways along the crossing will allow animals using the bridge to see their destination, while dense vegetation plantings will provide smaller animals with protection from predators.
The plants to be used on the bridge are being planned by a multidisciplinary workgroup and ODOT’s landscape architect. According to Denney, the team is concentrating on the plants that will assist make the crossover the most alluring for the species that we anticipate using it. Deer, elk, bears, cougars, birds, and even insects are among these species.
Sugar pine, desert gooseberry, deer brush, Oregon white oak, dwarf Oregon white oak, rubber rabbitbrush, antelope bitterbrush, and spreading dogbane are among the plants that could be crossed.
The construction will include fencing on both sides of the freeway and extending two and a half miles in either direction. It will span both northbound and southbound lanes. Wildlife will be directed onto the bridge with the aid of the fencing.
“We want to make the crossing as natural as possible, hopefully so that the wildlife doesn’t realize they’re crossing a major interstate,” Denney adds.
Kendra Chamberlain is a contributing editor for Columbia Insight. She is a Eugene-based freelance journalist that focuses on climate change, energy, and the environment. InvestigateWest, High Country News, DeSmog Blog, and Ensia have all featured her work.
Hood River-based Columbia Insight is a nonprofit news organization that focuses on environmental concerns in the Pacific Northwest and the Columbia River Basin.
