Michigan seeks funding to address deer-vehicle crashes, sheriff warns drivers to slow down
(CBS DETROIT) - Michigan is one of the states where deer-vehicle crashes happen the most, and state agencies are working to address the problem.
The Michigan Department of Transportation and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources submitted a grant proposal to get funding to help identify key wildlife crossings that are a risk for motorists.
State officials are working to get funding through the United State Department of Transportation's Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program.
Last year, 17 states and 19 wildlife crossings received $110 million in funding through this program.
"Awards included $24.4 million for Wyoming DOT to complete several crossings supporting migratory patterns for mule deer, pronghorn and other species," according to the transportation department. "MDOT is now officially throwing their hat into the funding ring, with an end goal to create mitigation plans to drastically reduce the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions, while protecting at-risk species."
The department requested $467,376 of federal WCPP funds and will match with $116,844 of state funding. MDOT expects to learn more about the funding by early spring.
Michigan usually ranks as the fourth state in the U.S. with the highest deer-vehicle crashes. An average of 55,000 deer-vehicle crashes happen each year, causing $130 million in damages.
Moose, elk, bear and wild turkey-related crashes are also reported in Michigan, but do not happen as often as crashes involving deer.
"This project is a key step in ensuring wildlife have safe passages to reach critical habitats they need to prosper," said Dr. Jared Duquette, human-wildlife interaction specialist with MDNR, and co-author of MDOT's grant application. "Even a small number of mortalities can severely hinder populations of at-risk species."
If the funding is awarded, MDOT and the DNR will share and collect data to determine 20 locations across the state where wildlife-vehicle collisions happen the most.
"Creating a wildlife mitigation plan to help protect drivers and animals has been a personal goal since before I came to MDOT," said MDOT Bay Region Resource Specialist Amanda Novak, who is responsible for the initial data collection the department started in recent years. "I know we can improve safety and protect wildlife at the same time, and ultimately we can do this by implementing animal crossings at existing locations."
As the state works to get this funding to make improvements and roads safer for Michigan motorists, a Michigan sheriff's office is warning residents to be mindful of areas where there are a lot of deer.
The Tuscola County Sheriff's Office says as the weather starts to cool down, they are expecting more deer-vehicle crashes, with numbers typically peaking in November.
Last year, Tuscola County deputies took 777 reports of deer-vehicle crashes. Throughout the state, there were 19 fatal crashes involving deer last year, according to the sheriff's office, and 1,554 deer-vehicle crashes where at least one person was injured.
With that, the sheriff's office is reminding drivers to slow down in areas that have brush and trees close to the roadway, along with any areas where there is a known deer presence can help reduce the number of crashes.
