the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, earlier this week the New York Times had a piece, “How Do Animals Safely Cross a Highway? Take a Look.” It sifts through the many reasons why wildlife road-crossing structures are needed – to protect at-risk species, and reduce human accidents. And it’s loaded with amazing videos and photos to make the case.
There are currently around 1,000 designated wildlife crossings in the U.S. We’re excited to see crossings gaining traction, moving from the realm of “fringe” ideas and into the common lexicon. As more ecologists, engineers, transportation planners, and communities come together to embrace these solutions, the more mainstream and efficient they will become.
The interactive CHANJ Mapping shows where “Road Wildlife Mitigation Projects” are happening across New Jersey. Blue circles represent completed projects, and gray circles are projects in the planning stage. Click to explore!
How does New Jersey stack up? Well, we don’t have badgers palling around with coyotes. But we do have a very high road density and an exhaustive amount of road-wildlife challenges. So far, more than twenty projects have been done to create or modify road-crossing structures for wildlife ranging from bobcats to turtles, and almost as many new projects are in the planning stages now. You can explore and learn about the many “Road Wildlife Mitigation Projects” across NJ using our interactive CHANJ Mapping.
“Imagine you’re a deer. You’re prancing along. You get thirsty. You spot a little brook. You put your little deer lips down to the cool, clear water. BAM! A f—in’ bullet rips off part of your head! Your brains are laying on the ground in little bloody pieces! Now I ask you: Would you give a f— what kind of pants the son of a b—- who shot you was wearing?!”
–Mona Lisa Vito