Connectivity in the Crown: Highway 2 wildlife crossings

This report summarizes data collected to inform decisions on how to best mitigate the effects on wildlife migration from increasing traffic, development, and recreation along US highway 2. The highway, railway, and river split the Crown of the Continent Ecosystem. This data addresses SO 3362 by providing information on major wildlife trails, observed wildilfe crossings and road kills, and identifying the elk, deer, and other animals that use the areas near 6 potential highway crossing structure locations.

This effort resulted in 621 wildlife observations of 26 species collected from hundreds of interactions with employees and the public, 31 businesses visited, and 11 events held or attended. We mapped 230 previously unrecorded wildlife trails between West Glacier and Columbia Falls and measured and photographed 390 culverts between East Glacier and Columbia Falls. We installed 12 trail cameras that captured 9248 wildlife images comprised of 12 species.