A cougar (also known as a mountain lion) in New Mexico.
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New Mexico lawmakers have approved $50 million to pay for wildlife crossings to improve roadway safety and also passed legislation to create a strategic reserve fund for freshwater conservation.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed Senate Bill 37: Strategic Water Reserve Fund on April 7 for the Interstate Stream Commission to manage and conserve water to support recharging the state’s aquifer and minimize groundwater depletion. The new law, to take effect June 20, also allows for purchasing and leasing surface water and water rights. The initial funding designated for the water reserve was $5.2 million.
“Advancement of the Strategic Water Reserve crucially expands the ability for the state to buy, lease, or accept donations of water rights for the benefit of a broad array of cultural and environmental values. The reserve is integral to keeping water in rivers and aquifers and conserving important habitat along the shore while honoring landowner water rights,” said Patrick Lane, senior manager of the intermountain West at The Pew Charitable Trusts. “New Mexicans fully recognize how important clean water is for their well-being. It’s never been more important to carefully conserve and manage the state’s freshwater resource, and the legislature’s action puts more tools in the toolbox for New Mexicans to use for this purpose.”
On April 11, the governor enacted into law House Bill 5 (General Appropriation Act of 2025) that directed $50 million to fund an existing legislative effort to alleviate vehicle and wildlife collisions. The New Mexico Wildlife Corridors Action Plan, finalized three years ago, has identified numerous “hot spots” on roadways throughout the state with the highest numbers of vehicle/wildlife collisions.
Lane also applauded the funding for the wildlife crossings. “This is the largest amount any state has ever appropriated for terrestrial wildlife crossings in a single year. Other states can look to New Mexico as a model for planning and construction of wildlife crossings to protect human and animal lives,” he said. “Migratory wildlife such as elk, deer and pronghorn have deep ties to New Mexico’s culture and identity. They also support a robust recreation economy that families and communities rely on. Wildlife crossings enhance and conserve these wildlife populations, while making a tangible contribution to driver safety across the state.”
Also lauding the N.M. allocation was Marcel Gaztambide, Southwest field manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. He noted in a recent social media post: “With over 1,000 wildlife-vehicle collisions taking place in New Mexico every year, this investment in the safety of New Mexico’s drivers and wildlife was desperately needed.”
Wildlife Most Vulnerable to Vehicle Crashes in New Mexico
Pronghorn in Southwestern New Mexico.
U.S. Geological Survey, New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit
The New Mexico Department of Transportation and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish were directed by the state legislature to develop an action plan for wildlife crossings. The plan identified both collision hot spots and priority projects to deter roadway accidents with animals. It identified 20 species of concern as most vulnerable to collisions, including four reptiles (ornate box turtle, Gila monster, Mexican garter snake and Western massasauga rattlesnake).
The mammals on the list were:
- American badgers,
- Bighorn sheep,
- Black bears,
- Cougars,
- Deer (mule and white-tailed deer),
- Elk,
- Foxes (the kit, swift and red foxes),
- Jackrabbits (white-sided and white-tailed),
- Javelina (also known as the collared peccary),
- Pronghorns,
- Skunks (white-backed, hog-nosed skunks),
- White-nosed coati (from the raccoon family).
The species of concern were also identified for posing a risk to motorists. Other factors putting the wildlife in that category included being killed in collisions to such an extent that it does/could lower population levels in New Mexico. Creatures were also impacted by roads that create habitat barriers.
Traffic Impacts on Gila Monsters and Jackrabbits
Gila monster in the Southwest.
VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Gila monsters in New Mexico mostly live west of the Continental Divide in the southwestern areas with rocky terrain such as in Chihuahuan Desert foothills and canyons. These lizards are the largest in the United States. They can weigh a pound and span as long as nearly two feet. These creatures are listed as endangered under the New Mexico Wildlife Conservation Act and also protected by state laws in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.
Although Gila monsters have venom in their lower jaws, their bite is painful but rarely fatal. According to the National Park Service, “They may be out digging, hunting, basking, etc. on the surface for only a few hours of a few days per year; about 98% of the year is spent out of sight. They live in burrows, packrat nests, or caliche caves and dens, sometimes sharing their abodes with other reptiles such as snakes or desert tortoises.”
Their black and pinkish skin patterns are hard to see in barren landscapes, which could contribute to their mortality rates. The New Mexico Wildlife Corridors Action plan identified Gila monsters as a species in greatest conservation need. “Highways through Granite Gap and Antelope Pass in the central Peloncillo Mountains are known sites of numerous roadkill records,” the report stated. Roadway mortality is thought to be due to more traffic in the border area in southwest New Mexico.
Another creature to make the list as most in need of conservation and threatened is the white-sided jackrabbit that also lives in the southwestern part of the state. These jackrabbits are only known to live in two valleys in Hidalgo County, which borders Arizona. This animal population was thought to be diminishing due to overgrazing by livestock on shrubs and grasses in New Mexico. However, significant population decreases of white-sided jackrabbits are likely linked to increased vehicle traffic due to more human activity and motorists along the U.S.-Mexico border. For instance, sharp reductions in white-sided jackrabbits populations had been noted on one main county road “yet no degradation of grassland quality or significant shrub invasion is evident,” the report stated.
Vehicle Collisions with Cougars and Black Bears
A cougar (mountain lion) prowling at night in New Mexico.
Mark Peyton,New Mexico Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit/USGS
Cougars in New Mexico are mostly found in the foothills and mountains in the central northern and southern parts of the state as well as in the western region. Adult males can weigh from 150 to 200 pounds and are often eight feet long. Also known as mountain lions, cougars are among the largest cats in North America.
The state estimates there are 3,500 cougars living there. The population is declining due to less habitat and vehicle collisions. Cougars tend to avoid roads and seek to cross using underpasses.
There were 135 cougar-vehicle collisions recorded in New Mexico from 2009 to 2018 mostly along Interstate 25 (north of Albuquerque to the Colorado border) as well as on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, in/near the Sacramento Mountains and along U.S. Route 180.
During the same time period, vehicles collided into 500 black bears mostly while traveling along mountain roadways.
Among the top 30 wildlife-vehicle collision hot spots in New Mexico, “one stands out” due to 49 motorists crashing into black bears on the I-25 corridor (from south of Raton to the Colorado border). Other top areas with high black bear-vehicle collisions include U.S. 64/U.S. 84 just south of Chama (7 collisions), I-25 around Glorieta Pass (6 collisions), Tijeras Canyon along I-40 (6 collisions), and I-25 south of Wagon Mound (5 collisions).
A black bear.
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Similar to cougars, black bears have been found to avoid crossing roads by using underpasses and culverts. State wildlife researchers from New Mexico and Arizona noted 169 cases of black bears crossing the roads via underpasses.
In contrast to these animals, New Mexico’s pronghorns prefer to use overpasses to tackle getting from one side of the highway to another. The state is estimated to have from 47,000 to 49,000 pronghorn. From 2002 to 2018, the state recorded 221 wildlife-vehicle collisions with pronghorns. With wildlife, the exact numbers killed by vehicles is unknown since people may not always report such a crash and animals may die away from roads so carcasses cannot always be seen or counted.
“Roads, traffic, and right-of-way fences affect pronghorn through direct mortality and by affecting their behavior, while fences along roads and even traffic restrict or alter their movements. Pronghorn prefer to crawl under fences rather than jump over them, and they struggle with multiple strand fences when the bottom wire is too low,” the report noted. “Mitigation of road-caused fragmentation and mortality is possible with the use of overpasses. Because of their keen eyesight and use of distance for predator avoidance behavior, pronghorn prefer overpasses to underpasses when crossing roads.”
NMDOT Improving Safety with Wildlife Crossings
Top 10 Wildlife/Vehicle Collision Hotspots in New Mexico per Number of Crashes Per Mile
NMDOT/NMDGF Wildlife Corridors Action Plan
The NMDOT has been involved in several wildlife crossing projects. For example, it has created escape ramps that provide an area for deer and elk to jump over to avoid vehicles. The department has also installed game fencing, such as an eight-foot-tall woven wire fence along I-40 near Edgewood to direct wildlife to pass under bridges instead of darting into traffic. Another use of technology is installing double cattleguards where side roads intersect with highways to prevent large animals from walking into vehicles at roadway turnouts.
Built a pair of 32-feet-wide arched wildlife underpasses after finding 102 dead deer within a two-year period at the I-25/Raton pass in Colfax County. Within two years after the safe crossings were built there was a 60% drop in the number of dead deer from vehicle collisions found there.
In another wildlife crossing project, NMDOT targeted U.S. Route north of Aztec close to the Colorado border due to deer-vehicle crashes. The state lowered the number of vehicles crashes with wildlife by more than 80% after putting larger box culverts for safe underpasses to replace three metal culverts. Guard fencing 8-feet high was constructed for three miles to guide the animals to the crossing areas and block the road. Double cattle guards were also placed as a deterrence.
New U.S. Highway 550 Project
Red line showing location of U.S. 550 Highway Wildlife Crossing Project in New Mexico.
NMDOT
NMDOT is working on a new transportation safety project on U.S. Highway 550 to curb vehicle crashes primarily with six types of animals (such as deer, black bears and elk) in its most hazardous area in need for wildlife crossings. At issue is a 17-mile long stretch of road in which 1.21 reported wildlife-vehicle collisions occurred per mile during a 10-year period. Most (58%) of the vehicles crashed into elk. Male elk can weigh 700 pounds or more and the females can weigh 500 pounds. The state is working to build large overpasses for the safe movement of wildlife there since elk are reluctant to pass through tunnels/culverts and don’t like to walk over small bridges.
Currently, the project is in design development. It will be divided into four phases. The project will span 16 miles of U.S. 550. Design plans for Phases 1 and 2 are expected to be finished by the end of this year.
To accommodate various animals likely to cross that part of the road, NMDOT is planning to build a wide single-span overpass with natural vegetation planted (to match the terrain) that would rise over four existing travel lanes/shoulders of U.S. 550. In addition, arched underpass structures would be created to enable animals to travel below the road level. Wildlife fencing would guide the animals to crossing areas and double cattleguards would be placed to restrict access to the highway.
Transportation Safety Solutions Exist with Wildlife Crossings
Based on Federal Highway Administration figures that are nearly 20 years old, from 1 million to 2 million collisions between large wildlife animals and vehicles happened through the United States each year—killing 200 people and causing injuries to 26,000 others. The property damage then was estimated at $8.3 billion. The majority of crashes involved single vehicles on two-lane roads.
State environmental and transportation agencies are increasing their efforts to boost both motorist roadway safety and wildlife survival rates by using technology to build road structures for animal passageways.
According to Lane from Pew, “Wildlife migration pathways, which are critical in maintaining many terrestrial wildlife populations, are particularly threatened due to the effects that roads and highways have on their movement patterns. The good news is that a proven solution to this problem exists. Wildlife crossings help reconnect migratory routes and make our roads safer for drivers by reducing the risk of wildlife-vehicle collisions. Time has shown that these crossings are highly effective.”
FHWA Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program 2024-2025 fiscal year grants of $125 million to 16 wildlife … More
USDOT/FHWA
The other good news is that federal wildlife crossing grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation/FHWA are providing vital revenue to help states improve highway safety for the traveling public and the many special creatures who live within our nation.
