Gianforte Signs Two Wildlife Crossing Bills

Hopefully, Montana's highways will be a little safer in the coming years.

Earlier this week, Governor Gianforte signed two pieces of legislation, House Bills 855 and 932, to fund construction and maintenance of wildlife crossings on Montana's highways.

HB 855 creates the financial account to support the work, called the Big Game and Wildlife Highway Crossings and Accommodations Account, which will be managed by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.  It also establishes a new specialty license plate to fund the project(s).  The design of said plate is yet to be determined, but will come from a MT FWP art contest that is open to the public and currently taking submissions until mid-October.

To provide additional funding for the work, HB 932 allocates some of the tax revenues from recreational marijuana sales in the state for projects regarding wildlife crossings.

There are multiple crossings already across the state, so hopefully this will add to the number, and maybe Montana won't be #2 in the nation for collisions with wildlife on the highway.

Personally, I'm going to keep on the lookout for more information about these potential new crossings.  Trying to figure out where they would be built and if they're more likely to go with an over- or under-pass crossing appeals to the geek in me.  And I know nothing about highway engineering, so maybe it's appealing more to the part of me that's still a little kid and loves watching heavy machinery at work.

Sources:  Daily Montanan, Montana Free Press, State Farm