A Conversation With the Smokies’ Wildlife Crossing Guard

Jeff Hunter is the senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association and one of the instigators behind Safe Passage: The Interstate 40 Pigeon River Gorge Wildlife Crossing Project.

The coalition of two dozen federal, state, tribal, and non-governmental organizations works to find ways for wildlife to safely cross Interstate 40, which bisects vast tracts of national forest near the border of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

What is the Safe Passage project all about?

Interstate 40 opened in the gorge in 1968, and at that time the bear population was probably a quarter of what it is today—if not less—and there were no elk on the landscape. Today we have a growing bear population and a growing elk population that’s on both sides of the highway. The Safe Passage project is a collaborative effort to improve wildlife’s ability to safely cross Interstate 40 and the Pigeon River Gorge, and if we’re successful doing that, that will improve public safety for motorists. It’s a win-win we’re seeking.

Influenced by Safe Passage’s work, the North Carolina Department of Transportation is building a new wildlife-friendly bridge at Harmon Den on Interstate 40, the first of five planned replacements in the gorge. What do those plans entail?

The bridge isn’t being replaced for wildlife. Let me make that clear. But in the process of replacing the bridge they’re taking wildlife into consideration, and they’re building a structure that’s going to be quieter—it’s very noisy under there because of the expansion joints—and they’re going to build some benches on either side of Cold Spring Creek for wildlife to move through there, and fencing to funnel wildlife to that point.

Safe Passage’s research recorded 162 large mammals killed on the road over the last four years, including 92 bears. How are do climate and seasonality affect these figures?

That number might be two and a half times higher in reality, because the carcasses can be picked up or moved before we can see them on driving surveys, or an animal can get beyond the guardrail where we can’t see it, where it’s injured or dies. So we don’t want to get too hung up on numbers. We know there’s a problem. Seasonally, the biggest problem is in the fall. That’s become apparent, and the problem really gets exacerbated when the acorn crop fails. There’s a lot more mortality because bears have to go farther and wider for food. They’re crossing more roads, they’re taking bigger risks, and more bears will be hit and killed. The other issue is climate change. As our climate changes, they have to find suitable habitat, and wildlife is moving toward the poles. So here you have arguably the most biodiverse national park in the country with a huge barrier to the north, so we need to accommodate wildlife’s need to move in the coming decades.

Given that the Pigeon River Gorge doesn’t directly touch the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, how does this work impact animals within its boundaries?

The park boundary is White Oak Mountain, which is the ridge above both I-40 and Cataloochee Valley, and Cataloochee is where there’s a herd of elk. They leave the park. They go up and exit the park across White Oak Mountain, then come down and they’re living within sight of the interstate. These animals have large home ranges. Male bears in particular have huge home ranges. In research from Jessica Braunstein with the University of Tennessee, fully 90 percent of the male bears she had collared left the park at some point in time. The park is big, but wildlife doesn’t recognize the boundaries. So we have to work outside the boundaries if we’re going to make an impact.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.