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- https://sou.edu/academics/sou-students-support-wildlife-project-on-i-5/
- https://sou.edu/academics/sou-students-support-wildlife-project-on-i-5/
The Butterfly Effect at the Mariposa Preserve: SOU Students Support a Wildlife Project on I-5
March 19. 2024
By Emily Heller, Senior ESP&S Major
Pictured above: Bobcat found in the culvert under Interstate-5 in July 2023. Photo retrieved from SOU Camera Trap footage
The Butterfly Effect asserts that one small event can influence a significant incident over time. Think of a small butterfly flapping its wings. That small butterfly has the potential to cause a chain of circumstances over time.
The Effect can be found in the Mariposa Preserve Wildlife Corridor Project at the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument near Ashland, OR. Over the past few years, several groups of individuals, including Environmental Science, Policy & Sustainability students, have been working towards cultivating a more sustainable future through the project.
The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM) is located about 25 miles south and east of SOU, adjacent to the California border. It consists of 114,000 acres of prime wildlife habitat. It is the only national monument in the United States specifically designated for its biodiversity or the variety of species living within it.
Interstate-5 runs through the CSNM, threatening resident wildlife, migrating animals, and humans. Of the 5,997 wildlife-vehicle collisions reported across the state by the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) in 2020, large-bodied wildlife were involved in the vast majority of the collisions.
Pictured Above: View of Interstate-5 from the Mariposa Preserve at the CSNM
Another issue that I-5 poses at the CSNM is the lack of habitat connectivity. The animals who live in the CSNM need this space to disperse and protect genetic flow for the benefit of their species. The busy interstate cutting through the habitat makes it difficult, if not impossible, for animals to thrive.
A possible solution to mitigate wildlife-vehicle collisions and the lack of habitat connectivity is to implement a wildlife crossing to ensure the safe passage of wildlife and humans on I-5.
There’s proof of wildlife crossings (AKA wildlife corridors) causing positive change. In Central Oregon, on US-97, it has been reported that there has been a 90% decrease in wildlife-vehicle collisions since the implementation of its wildlife crossing in 2023 (Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, 2023).
Pictured Above: A fox sighting at the CSNM in April 2023 via camera trap footage
In 2021, conservationists Jack Williams and Amy Amrhein founded the Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition (SOWCC) in anticipation of the passage of the Infrastructure Act under the Biden Administration. The goal was to be “shovel ready” for a wildlife crossing project when new money came to Oregon.
A project like designing and building a wildlife crossing costs a pretty penny, in this case on I-5, near $20 million.
Under the Infrastructure Act, $1 billion was dedicated to reconnecting established areas separated by past infrastructure projects with $350 million appropriated to a new Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program that could fund planning and construction for safe wildlife passage. Williams and Amrhein saw the potential for I-5’s wildlife crossing come to life.
Amrhein represents the political and financial side of the SOWCC. She retired after working 12 years as a Southern Oregon Field Representative for U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley. Merkley worked with President Obama to expand the CSNM in 2016.
Williams is the Emeritus Senior Scientist for Trout Unlimited and has been a professor of biology at SOU in the past. He supports monitoring of the active species in the CSNM and provides scientific expertise for the SOWCC.
The SOWCC’s proposed I-5 corridor is a wildlife overcrossing as opposed to a new or enlarged culvert. A culvert is an underground tunnel system that favors smaller animals. This happens because it is small and dark–not many animals in the area feel safe crossing the 800’ span under the freeway using a culvert, much less being able to fit in one.
There are a couple of culverts under I-5 at the CSNM. They are 3-6 ft. in diameter and run hundreds of feet across the interstate. The only animals seen in the culvert via camera trap monitoring have been resident bobcats, bats, foxes, and squirrels. Keep in mind that these animals don’t even make up half the number of the different animal species in the area.
A wildlife overcrossing, however, is accessible to a much wider variety of animals. The wildlife crossing will be built over the highway, allowing cars to pass through tunnels underneath. Wildlife crossings are also more manageable at the engineering level. The wildlife crossing is estimated to be 200 ft. wide and 800 ft. long. Rocks and large trees that will be planted near the wildlife crossing can shield wildlife from sounds and light. The animals will be more likely to use the wildlife crossing instead of attempting the dangerous dash across the highway.
The wildlife crossing must also be accompanied by 2 miles of fencing extending to California. The fencing will serve as a boundary to funnel the animals to the overpass bridge, thus saving their lives and preventing collisions.
The SOWCC comprises 17 agencies and many private donors who contribute financially to the project.
The Oregon Wildlife Foundation (OWF) is dedicated to reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions. OWF has been working with the SOWCC since its inception as a fiscal agent. Executive director Tim Greseth has stated the importance of monitoring wildlife for the corridor project, confiding that Oregon has been competing with other states for money to make more projects like this one happen. Wildlife monitoring looks very good on an application for more funding.
Greseth speaks on the importance of the I-5 wildlife crossing project: “It [the high volume of wildlife-vehicle collisions] is a true conservation calamity,” he says. “It is not just a motorist safety issue.” The wildlife crossing can benefit the environment, people, and wildlife.
In addition, Greseth asserts that implementation plans for wildlife crossings are supported by a wide variety of stakeholders. Organizations from the Oregon Hunters Association to the Wildlands Network support this. No one is necessarily against wildlife corridor implementation–getting all the funds is tricky.
So then, if we know that the project is well-supported by all walks of life, how can the SOWCC and ODOT get the funding to complete it?
ODOT applied for the I-5 wildlife corridor to receive the new Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program federal funding in 2023. Although the government denied the funds then, the SOWCC was encouraged to apply again the following year, as the application looked brilliant.
The application’s brilliance was partly due to the hard work of everyone involved in the project. Amy Amrhein suggests that monitoring wildlife is an essential feature of the application. The wildlife monitoring on the funding application shows the exact numbers of species involved, which answers why this project is so important.
Pictured Above: An elk sighting at the CSNM in July 2022
2 organizations have been monitoring the CSNM since 2022. Charlie Schelz, an ecologist with the Bureau of Land Management and Dr Karen Mager, an SOU professor, and SOU students have been contributing to data collection. They monitor animal activity in the area by utilizing camera traps that snap pictures in the sense of motion.
In 2022, SOU Environmental Science student Maya Smith introduced a project that future SOU students would take on for their Capstone projects for years. The project hoped to contribute to data collection for the I-5 wildlife crossing.
Smith’s data were used to determine the most feasible sites along I-5 in the CSNM for the construction of the wildlife corridor. She presented her findings with Dr. Mager at the National Wildlife Society Conference.
One of the most critical sites Smith found was the Mariposa Preserve. The Preserve is a popular spot for wildlife to migrate through and hang out. Wildlife that the camera traps have snapped pictures of include bobcats, mountain lions, black bears, Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, fishers, and many others.
In 2023, a new group of Environmental Science students took on the challenge of data collection for the wildlife corridor after Maya Smith graduated. Sarah Ross, Nancy Hiner, and Christopher Riviello all sifted through 1,000s of photos and videos from the camera traps, just like Smith did. This is a long, taxing process that requires manual work. It requires a lot of patience.
In the latter half of 2023, the students found a ton of new data to present about the wildlife activity at the Mariposa Preserve.
Once those students graduated in 2024, a new group of Environmental Science students emerged to take on the project and continue data collection for the Preserve, including myself, Eden Chadwick, Shawn Johnson, and Kira Miller. But this time, a new team of Computer Science students joined the project.
The collaboration between computer science students and environmental science students proved critical for improving the data collection process. The computer science students, Harley Chappell and Erik Harden, led by Dr. Bernadette Boscoe, are creating a software program to collect data from the Mariposa preserve’s camera traps much faster than human capabilities.
The continuation of wildlife monitoring is crucial for the success of the Mariposa Preserve wildlife crossing. It is a perfect opportunity for a Capstone project.
It is important to have records of wildlife activity even after the corridor is completed. When monitoring data is available both before and after the corridor’s implementation, it can help other communities understand the significance of funding and building such a project.
Presently, the construction of the Mariposa Preserve is in the design stages. Enough money has been supplied to go that far in the process. However, the construction may not occur until 2025 or later, as it heavily depends on federal funding.
In the meantime, we can support the project and spread the word. If you are an Environmental Science student, make this your Capstone project to contribute to the process via wildlife monitoring. If you are driving south of Ashland towards California, drive carefully and watch for signs of wildlife.
The Butterfly Effect exists in the Mariposa Preserve project, as Interstate-5 in a vast wildlife hotspot caused a chain reaction in environmental degradation; one of us can cause a cascading effect towards a more sustainable future.
Pictured Above: A black bear at the CSNM in August 2022
Thank you to Amy Amrhein, Tim Greseth, and Jack Williams
- Oregon Department of Transportation. (2023). I-5: siskiyou wildlife crossings. State of Oregon. https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=23100
- Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. (2022). Watch out for Wildlife: Vehicle-Wildlife Collisions Peak This Time of Year. https://www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2022/10_Oct/101222.asp
Learn more about SOU’s Environmental Science, Policy, & Sustainability Programs:
Environmental Science, Policy, & Sustainability | ESP&S Programs Offered