The impact of roads on American wildlife and ecology, and recommendations for mitigation

The rapid and widespread development of the American road system has had incalculable benefit to the economy and mobility of this nation, but as with all change it comes with costs. One of the most visible is the catastrophic impact on the wildlife present in the fields and forests of the country. Roads and the cars they carry affect wildlife in many ways, both direct and indirect. The simplest and most immediate direct effect is the wildlife-vehicle collision, or WVC. Indirect impacts tend to be subtler and slower to develop. These include habitat loss and fragmentation among others, which in turn interfere with animal movement, feeding, and reproductive behaviors. Taking these effects a step further, genetic diversity, animal numbers, and population resiliency all suffer. This report describes the history and deleterious effects of roads and traffic on American wildlife, management tools such as avoidance, mitigation, and compensation, planning requirements for the design professional, and legislative efforts in the subject area. The paper concludes by exploring potential future approaches to find more and creative ways to allow automobile transportation and nature to coexistCommunity and Regional Plannin