Highway 89 is experiencing increasing traffic (~20,000 vehicles/day). The current wildlife exclusion fencing in Sardine Canyon is over 30 years old, with numerous gaps that allow elk, moose, and mule deer onto the highway right of way, creating a potentially deadly situation for motorists and wildlife. Two wildlife crossing culvert underpasses were constructed in 1995, with limited success in terms of mule deer use. Since 2013, UDOT and DWR have tried various solutions to prevent access into the ROW and to improve connectivity. Increasingly a busy transportation corridor, Highway 89's wildlife exclusion fences are in dire need of short term gap mending and total replacement. A long term connectivity solution for wildlife is needed in this particular travel corridor, potentially including exploration of a wildlife overpass by Mantua. Even with the exclusion fence in place, this area was still identified as the state's 11th highest hotspot for wildlife-vehicle collisions, highlighting just how poorly the fence is currently functioning.

1) Improve condition of existing wildlife exclusion fencing from mileposts 5-15, by fixing gaps through collaboration with DWR, Dedicated Hunters, and UDOT as a short term solution. 2) Facilitate a safer highway corridor for the motoring public and for DWR employees who respond to dangerous situations such as moose in the right of way or a herd of elk in the road shoulder. 3) Provide "seed money" to kickstart the funding and planning process for total fence replacement from mile posts 5-15. From field visits and meetings between DWR and UDOT, it is known that a new fence line platform needs to be created farther back on the high sidehills in areas where it is sloughing off and creating dangerous gaps for wildlife movement into the right of way. Removal of the old wildlife exclusion fence is necessary before new fence construction can begin. 4.) The phases of this process will hopefully determine an appropriate long term funding mechanism for total fence replacement and the potential for a wildlife crossing. Procuring funding from numerous sources is necessary and critical to the success of the project.

The ~30 year age of this wildlife exclusion fence is a significant, ongoing maintenance challenge. Deep snow in 2023 caused wildlife to descend lower in highway corridors in search of food resources and accessing to the highway through fence gaps. This created hazardous situations for motorists, as many large animals were hit and killed on highway 89. DWR also responded to multiple situations to haze elk off the highway right of way. In December 2023, a moose was on the wrong side of the fence and had to be tranquilized and moved. Before it was immobilized, it crossed the highway at least twice and created a dangerous situation for motorists in both directions during the relocation. Additionally, road kills are indiscriminate with respect to the sex of the animals killed, unlike a hunting season leading to a much larger percentage of does killed. Mitigating wildlife mortality in this section of road each year would definitely put more deer on the landscape. Northern Utah's deer population drastically declined during the winter of 2023, due to a combination of factors including the deep snowpack, competition for food resources, vehicle collisions and general loss of winter range habitat. It is more important than ever to re-connect big game habitat that has historically been lost to road fragmentation and a barrier due to traffic volumes.

1) 2020 Utah Statewide Mule Deer Management Plan Population Management Goal Strategy A. Population Objectives. f. Work with UDOT to construct sufficient wildlife crossing structures, fencing or other mitigation options to minimize deer vehicle collisions. Strategy C. Population Monitoring and Research. d. Evaluate the effectiveness of the crossing structures and other mitigation options over time and implement new technologies to minimize highway mortality. Habitat Goal Strategy C. Travel Management and Development. c. Work with county, state, and federal agencies to limit the negative effects of roads by reclaiming unused roads, properly planning new roads, and installing fencing and highway passage structures where roads disrupt mule deer migration patterns. (Secretarial Order 3362, US Department of the Interior: Improving Habitat Quality in Western Big Game Winter Range and Migration Corridors). Scientific Literature: See US 89/91 described as Potential Species and Mitigation Solutions in 2019 report authored by Dr. Patricia Cramer et al. "Mule deer is the main species that needs to cross the highway in this area, but moose and elk have been photographed moving along here and have been involved in crashes. This area has two wildlife crossing culvert underpasses built in 1995 (MP 5.2 and MP 8.3) and miles of wildlife exclusion fence (MP 5-15). The MP 8 underpass has the highest mule deer repel rate in the state of all monitored wildlife crossing structures, and the MP 5 underpass is small for a mule deer underpass, and does not appear to be heavily used, except by humans. Since 2013 UDWR and UDOT have tried various solutions to prevent mule deer access into the ROW and to provide connectivity. These efforts have only had minimal success. Additional wildlife crossing structures, including an overpass just north of Mantua (MP 7.2) may be the best solution because mule deer need access to water and winter habitat on both sides of the highway."

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The area is a previously disturbed highway corridor.

DWR will provide technical support and recruit Dedicated Hunters to the fence gap project in coordination with UDOT to plan and execute the project safely. DWR, UDOT, and other partners will work together to plan fence replacement and highway mitigation projects.

UDWR and UDOT will track wildlife-vehicle collisions in this reach and report the numbers of wildlife killed.

Utah Department of Transportation Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife Mule Deer Foundation Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Safari Club International

Discussions regarding the necessary fence gap maintenance, improvements, challenges, safety hazards, and wildlife movement patterns will help inform DWR and UDOT on the pursuit of future funding opportunities to mitigate wildlife highway vehicle collisions and re-connect big game winter range fragmented by busy travel corridors.

Vehicle collisions with wildlife are an economic drain on individuals and society. When traffic patterns are disrupted due to a wildlife vehicle collision or instance of necessary wildlife tranquilizing and relocation (such as the moose DWR relocated in December 2023), cars and trucks may be stuck in traffic and idle for long periods of time. Idling in the winter is known to contribute to deleterious air quality issues, especially in Cache Valley, with winter inversions. A safe highway corridor that keeps wildlife out of the right of way is an investment in sustainability, safety, and better air quality.