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Montana committee backs bill to create wildlife-crossing fund and specialty license plate
Summary
Representative Katie Zolnikoff told the House Transportation Committee that House Bill 855 would create a state special revenue account to fund wildlife crossing projects, funded by a $20 specialty license-plate fee and a small initial appropriation; MDT and conservation groups urged passage noting high collision costs and project expenses.
Representative Katie Zolnikoff opened the hearing for House Bill 855, saying the bill "establishes a new big game and wildlife highway crossing and accommodation account" and authorizes Fish, Wildlife & Parks to create a specialty license plate whose proceeds would go into that account.
Why it matters: Supporters told the committee Montana records high rates of wildlife-vehicle collisions and that crossings and associated fencing can sharply reduce collisions. Director Chris Dorrington of the Montana Department of Transportation described the scale of the costs involved and said current MDT funding cannot meet accommodation needs.
What the bill would do: Zolnikoff said HB 855 creates the account at the Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), allows FWP to establish a specialty plate with a $20 donation per plate, and (per the sponsor’s opening) directs a small initial appropriation to seed the fund. Zolnikoff said the account’s eligible uses include matching federal grants and paying for construction of underpasses, overpasses and fencing; the bill allows FWP to transfer funds to MDT to carry out qualifying projects.
On costs and effectiveness: DOT Director Chris Dorrington said estimated construction costs vary widely: "Average simple underpasses are between 500,000 and $2,000,000. Simple overpasses are between 3 and $10,000,000." He also said Montana currently has about 125 wildlife accommodations statewide. Road ecologist Kylie Paul told the committee, "Montana has the second highest rate of wildlife vehicle collisions per capita in the nation" and cited collision-cost estimates and multi-year counts (transcript testimony attributed figures of over $200 million annually in collision costs and roughly 60,000 large animals hit in a decade).
Federal match and benefit-cost tensions: Committee members asked whether federal highway safety money could match projects. MDT engineers explained that to use some federal safety funds they must pass a benefit-cost analysis and that "when we run through the benefit cost analysis for wildlife crossings, they don't pencil out," meaning wildlife-specific crossings are often less competitive than other safety projects. MDT staff said wildlife features are sometimes added when a roadway project already exists, but MDT rarely initiates standalone wildlife-only projects because of cost and distribution of benefits.
Supporters and partners: Conservation groups (including the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Montana Wildlife Federation and National Wildlife Federation), sportsmen's organizations, insurers, contractors and local wildlife associations testified in support and described the account as a mechanism to aggregate private donations, specialty-plate revenue and seed money to leverage federal grants.
Committee action: In the committee’s executive-action session later the same day, representatives moved HB 855 do pass; the chair announced HB 855 "does pass unanimously from House Transportation" and it will progress to the House floor.
What’s next: HB 855 will be carried to the House floor for further consideration. Committee members requested follow-up fiscal and revenue projections for the specialty plate and the account.
