Nov 9, 2009 6:44 pm US/Mountain
Web Site Aims To Protect Drivers And Wildlife
Reporting
Paul Day
DENVER (CBS4) ―
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Wildlife on the side of Interstate 70.
CBS
November is the worst month of the year for car collisions involving wildlife, but now there's a program designed to protect drivers and the animals that relies on the Internet.
Fencing out wildlife from heavily traveled highways is both impossible and impractical. All too frequently, there are crashes involving animals. Now a group of public safety and wildlife experts is urging drivers to pay better attention.
"Put down the cell phone, put down the French fries, put down the lipstick and pay attention to the other drivers you're sharing that roadway with along with our wildlife that we're sharing that roadway with, especially this time of year," Carole Walker with Rocky Mountain Insurance Information said.
A new interactive Web site called I-70wildlifewatch.org gives the public a way to report sightings of animals, dead or alive, along a stretch of Interstate 70 from Golden to Glenwood Springs. Simply log on and use the Google map system to pinpoint a sighting.
"It's our hope that I-70wildlifewatch.org will encourage greater driver awareness about wildlife that are living adjacent to the I-70 corridor," conservation ecologist Julia Kintsch said.
Deer and elk are the most frequently killed animals, but even predators like bear and mountain lion are being struck.
Special signs outside Evergreen mark locations with a high number of collisions.
Last year there were seven crashes with wildlife where people died. The Colorado State Patrol says many crashes could be avoided if drivers are more vigilant and slow down.
"It's important to be alert at night. Watch for eyes in the darkness, the glowing eyes that you'll often see at the times on the side of the road," Sgt. John Hahn said.
Better reporting of wildlife is just one goal of the new Web site. The new database will be used to plan safeguards along the busy interstate to protect drivers as well as animals.
I-70wildlifewatch.org is the work of a coalition that includes the Colorado Department of Transportation, the Colorado State Patrol, the Division of Wildlife and several environmental groups.
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