Infrastructure Mitigation
Landscape fragmentation has deleterious effects on terrestrial animals. Infrastructure such as interstate highways, water canals and hydro-dams can be insurmountable barriers to animals, depending on the species and mode of movement. In February 2007, the Western Governors’ Association unanimously approved policy Resolution-07-01,“Protecting Wildlife Migration Corridors and Crucial Wildlife Habitat in the West”. In 2008, the Federal Highway Administration Research Technology gave an Executive Report to Congress summarizing the impact of WVCs and recommendations for mitigation. The Wildlife Conservation and Restoration Program and State Wildlife Grants Programs require that state transportation and state wildlife agencies work together to devise a Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy that includes mitigation of physical barriers that disrupt gene flow. The public has little knowledge about these policies and the importance of decreasing WVCs on our roadways and improving landscape connectivity for terrestrial mammals and other species at risk. The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors adopted the Wildlife Movement and Corridor Report into the Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP) on December 7, 2010. INRMP Policy 7.4.2.8, specifically Section B and E, addresses landscape connectivity and barrier mitigation.