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WDFW unveils Washington Habitat Connectivity Action Plan, highlights priority highway crossings and funding needs
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Summary
The Habitat Committee heard WDFW present the Washington Habitat Connectivity Action Plan (WCAP), a non-regulatory, map-driven strategy identifying connectivity cores, corridors and transportation priority zones—including a shortlist of 38 high-priority highway segments—and discussed funding, private-land incentives and tribal-led pilot projects.
The Habitat Committee of the Fish and Wildlife Commission on April 16 heard a detailed briefing on the Washington Habitat Connectivity Action Plan (WCAP), a non-regulatory, science-driven effort led by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and co-led with the Washington State Department of Transportation to map and prioritize places for conservation and wildlife crossings.
"Habitat connectivity is the degree to which the landscape facilitates or impedes wildlife movement," said Julia Michalek, section manager for the Priority Habitats and Species section at WDFW, who led the presentation. Michalek described WCAP’s three parts: maps of connectivity condition, priorities for action, and strategies for coordinated implementation.
Michalek said WDFW reviewed about 50 existing focal-species models, carried forward 22 with expert review and created four ecosystem connectivity models (lowland, montane/forest, east-side forest, and shrubstep/grasslands) using Google Earth Engine to reflect up-to-date land-cover conditions. Those layers, combined with values such as beaver-habitat potential and local landscape permeability, were synthesized into a cumulative connectivity-value map; darker areas on that map indicate higher combined value.
For the state highway system, WDFW and WSDOT scored each road mile on two independent axes: ecological connectivity value and wildlife-safety (based on collision/removal density). WSDOT identified the top 10% on each metric; together those selections cover roughly 19% of the highway system. WDFW identified 157 clustered priority zones (about 16% of the system) and a more selective shortlist of 38 priority zones (about 6%) intended for large, grant-funded crossing projects.
Michalek showed retrofit work on Highway 101 (Indian Creek) and cited the I-90 overpass as a major success for terrestrial and aquatic passage. She also highlighted tribal-led projects: the Stillaguamish secured funding from the Federal Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program for a Highway 20 crossing focused on elk, and the Puyallup received a planning grant for State Route 12; WDFW and WSDOT are participating partners.
Commissioners pressed on implementation and funding. Commissioner Rowland said the WCAP ‘‘could appeal around the entire state’’ and urged using the plan to rebuild public trust and win legislative support. Commissioner Smith noted a prior bill to establish a Wildlife Crossings Fund failed and asked whether legislators had seen the WCAP; Michalek said she has not presented the full briefing to the Legislature yet but hopes to pursue education and outreach next year.
Commissioner Myers asked whether insurance companies have been approached as potential funders; Michalek said the idea has been discussed in the connectivity community but she was not aware of specific feasibility work, and she noted economic data show that crossings combined with fencing can be cost-effective by reducing wildlife-vehicle collisions.
Commissioner Parker asked whether crossings can concentrate prey and attract predators or hunters; Michalek said WSDOT monitoring of I-90 crossings documents extensive use by deer and elk and that she had not seen evidence predation risks outweighed benefits, though she offered to follow up with monitoring data. On telemetry, Michalek cited cougar telemetry from the Olympic Cougar Project and use-monitoring at crossings but said detailed telemetry tied to crossing-use is limited.
On voluntary private-land conservation, Michalek said WDFW engaged partners such as Conservation Northwest and conservation districts to perform targeted outreach, land acquisition and easements. She pointed to funding sources and incentives that can flow from partners and federal programs (for example, NRCS conservation funding) but acknowledged outreach to individual landowners is challenging and often partner-led.
Michalek emphasized that the WCAP is non-regulatory and intended to provide voluntary, locally tailored conservation actions and regional profiles to help planners, transportation engineers and land managers identify and prioritize places where coordinated action—land-use planning, recreation management, voluntary incentives and transportation projects—can best protect connectivity.
Next steps identified during the meeting included continuing feasibility analyses for shortlisted crossing sites, pursuing targeted legislative education and outreach, coordinating with partners for private-land incentives and follow-up monitoring. No formal motion or vote occurred; the committee concluded with thanks to the WCAP team and closed the meeting.
The WCAP spatial data, Michalek said, are available on ArcGIS Online for users to download and explore the underlying layers behind the synthesized connectivity maps.
