Montana Wildlife and Transportation Planning Tool

Abstract

The Montana Wildlife & Transportation Planning Tool (MWTPT) combines wildlife and transportation information to identify areas of greatest need for wildlife/transportation accommodations along Montana highways. Development of this tool was a key objective of the Wildlife Transportation Summit in 2018. The Wildlife and Transportation Steering Committee, which formed after the summit, assigned this task to the Data and Information Working Group (DIWG). The DIWG is a collaboration of staff from the Montana Department of Transportation, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, and representatives from the Montanans For Safe Wildlife Passage coalition. Data layers were collected to evaluate wildlife-vehicle conflict and important areas for wildlife movement and conservation along Montana Department of Transportation maintained roads. Data layers considered for the analyses were at the continental, national, regional (i.e., Northern Great Plains, Pacific Northwest, etc.) and, statewide scale, along with ecological systems within Montana. Those data were then compiled, categorized, weighted, and ranked to identify large areas (i.e., not specific locations) of greatest need for wildlife and transportation accommodations. This information has now been visualized as an ArcGIS StoryMap consisting of a series of interactive maps and includes a summary report as well as a comprehensive user guide. This presentation will introduce this exciting new product to the audience and provide information on the data and analysis features available, as well as how to use the tool to support work to reduce wildlife-vehicle conflict across the state.