Every fall and winter, elk meander their way down from Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Mountains and congregate in the Silver Valley near Interstate 90. Sometimes they try to cross the four-lane freeway, walking, leaping or sprinting through the stream of cars and trucks. But those attempts rarely end well for the elk or the drivers.
This month, however, there’s new hope for the animals and motorists passing through Silver Valley. Passionate residents have rallied to transform a defunct bridge on the outskirts of Osburn into a wildlife crossing.
Collisions between motorists and wildlife kill more than 200 humans and injure over 26,000 people in the U.S. every year. They are also expensive, costing over $8 billion a year.
Wildlife crossings aren’t cheap either, especially if they’re built from scratch. According to the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, overpasses can run between $1 million and $7 million depending on their size and the terrain. Idaho’s first wildlife overpass, built near Boise at Cervidae Peak in 2023, cost $6.5 million.
By comparison, the Osburn bridge project came to about $645,000, with the primary cost being for fencing to funnel the wildlife toward the bridge.
It’s common knowledge that elk, whitetail deer, coyotes and even moose cross the freeway near the bridge. Community members use a Facebook group as a way to alert each other whenever there are animals on or near the road. Laura Wolf, a regional wildlife biologist with Idaho Game and Fish, noted that the stretch of I-90 between Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and the Montana border has the second-highest density of roadkill on the entire freeway, which runs from Seattle all the way to Minneapolis.
“I-90 is such a barrier for wildlife in the region,” said Eric Greenwell, a connectivity specialist at the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative, a conservation group. “It’s one of our priority freeways.”
The wildlife crossing was the brainchild of Osburn resident Carl Wilson, a long-haul trucker, avid outdoorsman and longtime supporter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. About a decade ago, Wilson began to wonder whether the dead-end bridge at the edge of town could be repurposed to help wildlife cross the freeway.
The bridge was built in 1969 in anticipation of the town’s growth. But shortly thereafter, a mining company bought a parcel for stashing its mine tailings on the north side of the freeway, blocking residential expansion. Shortly thereafter, the company demolished half the bridge that crossed the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. The section that was left crossed the freeway and then stopped abruptly in its tracks.
“At that point, it became the bridge to nowhere,” said Kirsten Voorhees, a fourth-generation Silver Valley resident and civil engineer.
“He never gave up.”
Wilson spoke to representatives from Idaho Fish and Game, the Idaho Department of Transportation, Idaho Department of Lands and the Shoshone County commissioners and knocked on doors to build community support. Voorhees described him as dogged: “He had no problem hustling,” she said. “He never gave up.” But by 2021, he realized he could use some technical assistance. “One person can’t do it all himself,” he said. So Voorhees got involved.
For Voorhees, the issue was personal: When she was 16, she hit a whitetail deer on the freeway near the bridge while driving alone late at night. Her sedan spun onto the shoulder, barely missing a light pole. Law enforcement officers told her she was lucky to be alive.
One day in 2022, as they were talking over coffee, Wilson told Voorhees he was worried that he might not live to see the project completed. So he made Voorhees promise she’d see it through. “I told him, ‘You have my word,’” Voorhees said. “Whatever it takes.” Wilson died in December 2022 at the age of 80.
Voorhees was determined to keep her promise. “It became a blood oath,” she said. Grants from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Wildlife Federation and the Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative secured after Wilson’s death provided funding for the necessary fencing and bridge retrofits, which were completed in August.
The existing fencing across the bridge was raised from 6 to 8 feet, tall enough so that spooked animals couldn’t jump off onto the freeway. Fencing now extends roughly a mile in each direction on both sides of the road. In addition to directing animals toward the overpass, it also encourages them to use an underpass to the east. One-way gates in the fencing allow animals on the freeway to pass through to safety.
The repurposed crossing won’t last forever, however. The Idaho Department of Transportation plans to remove the bridge within 10 years; it needs repairs and lacks enough clearance for some semi-trucks. But even if it only lasts a short time, Voorhees said, the reduction in wildlife-human collisions will be worth it. She hopes the bridge will be well utilized, making a case for the construction of a new, higher wildlife overpass in the same location.
Earlier this month, I stood on the overpass with Voorhees and Wolf. Cars and semis whizzed beneath our feet, and the dull roar of traffic permeated our conversation as we paced over the crossing, imagining the critters that will follow in our footsteps. The bridge officially “opened” in August, and Idaho Game and Fish is monitoring the crossing with motion-activated video cameras. One whitetail deer used it even before the fencing was completed, while a coyote thought about it, but ultimately reconsidered.
Animal traffic is expected to pick up this fall as ungulates migrate downhill to the valley floor. Both Voorhees and Wolf are proud to have helped Wilson achieve his cherished goal. And Voorhees hopes to officially name the bridge after him: “People want to see him get credit for his final act,” she said.
This story is part of High Country News’ Conservation Beyond Boundaries project, which is supported by the BAND Foundation.
