Implementing Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure: Understanding DOT Culture Interview/Survey Report by Angela V. Kociolek Research Scientist, M.Sc. ARC Technology Transfer Initiative Leader Western Transportation Institute College of Engineering Montana State University A report prepared for ARC January 2014 Implementing Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Disclaimer DISCLAIMER The survey results reported herein are largely based on closed question choices and, therefore, may not adequately represent the opinions or beliefs of all survey respondents. The closed question choices were based on responses obtained during interviews with a subset of Department of Transportation personnel from various state agencies. Every attempt was made retain the original intent of interviewees and any misinterpretation by the author was unintentional. Western Transportation Institute ii Implementing Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Acknowledgements ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author thanks the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials for providing Department of Transportation (DOT) contacts for the initial interviews and also for endorsing the web-based survey that followed. Thanks to Roger Surdahl of the Federal Highway Administration – Central Federal Lands Highway Division who provided helpful feedback on interview and survey language. Thanks also go to Jeff Lickenbach and Nic Ward of the Western Transportation Institute’s Center for Health and Safety Culture for their guidance and insights and to Rob Ament, Terry Brennan, Renee Callahan, and Jeremy Guth of ARC for their editorial input. The author is grateful to the DOT personnel who responded to requests for assistance in identifying the most appropriate personnel within their respective agencies to take the survey. Finally, thanks to all DOT personnel who took the time and effort to participate in the interview and/or the survey. Western Transportation Institute iii Implementing Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction ..............................................................................................................................1 2. Targeted Phone Interview ........................................................................................................2 2.1. Methods........................................................................................................................... 2 2.1.1. Interviewee selection .............................................................................................. 2 2.1.2. Delivery and recording ........................................................................................... 2 2.2. Results ............................................................................................................................. 3 2.2.1. Statistics .................................................................................................................. 3 2.2.2. Question responses .................................................................................................. 3 2.3. Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 26 3. Broad Web-based Survey ......................................................................................................27 3.1. Methods......................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.1. Survey invitation ................................................................................................... 27 3.1.2. Survey language .................................................................................................... 30 3.2. Survey results ................................................................................................................ 30 3.3. Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 70 4. Conclusions ............................................................................................................................72 4.1. Agency focus ................................................................................................................ 72 4.2. Public focus ................................................................................................................... 73 4.3. Barriers to widespread implementation ........................................................................ 73 5. Recommendations ..................................................................................................................75 6. References ..............................................................................................................................76 7. Appendix ................................................................................................................................77 7.1. Raw interview responses............................................................................................... 77 7.2. Raw survey responses ................................................................................................... 91 7.3. Survey tool .................................................................................................................. 109 Western Transportation Institute iv Implementing Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure List of Tables LIST OF TABLES Table 1. State DOTs and corresponding number of interviewees that participated. ...................... 4 Table 2. Responses describing at what point an agency decides to build a wildlife crossing. ....... 8 Table 3. Side by side comparison of the type of information the average person and the interviewee’s agency would seek about a structural design before constructing it. ............. 11 Table 4. Responses about belief in the possibility that all DOTs could share and work toward the stated vision. “We envision a systemic network of wildlife crossings wherever they are needed to make highways safer for people and wildlife and to make habitats more connected for wildlife.” ........................................................................................................ 17 Table 5. Examples of reasons why an agency would not be the first to implement a new design or program that promises to be effective and save money. ....................................................... 20 Table 6. Additional/closing comments from interviewees. .......................................................... 22 Table 7. Percent and number of respondents per state. ................................................................. 31 Table 8. One-word responses to the stated vision. ........................................................................ 49 Table 9. Summarized responses to agency-specific practices pertaining to terrestrial wildlife crossing structures. ................................................................................................................ 58 Table 10. Closing comments about DOT culture and the survey, in general ............................... 64 Western Transportation Institute v Implementing Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure List of Figures LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Representative role of interviewees. ................................................................................ 4 Figure 2. Relative beliefs about whether the average person considers that minimizing wildlife- vehicle collisions is a priority. ................................................................................................ 6 Figure 3. Relative beliefs about whether average people consider that ensuring wildlife can move across the landscape and across roadways is important. ......................................................... 7 Figure 4. Relative beliefs about whether ensuring that wildlife can move across the landscape and across roadways is important to their agency. ................................................................. 7 Figure 5. Relative consideration for building wildlife crossings to improve safety and habitat connectivity for wildlife. ......................................................................................................... 8 Figure 6. Relative familiarity with the ARC competition. ............................................................ 10 Figure 7. Relative thoughts about how most people would think or feel about the statement “Just like crosswalks for pedestrian safety, it makes sense to also create safe passages for wildlife to cross roads.” ...................................................................................................................... 15 Figure 8. Relative thoughts about how most people would think or feel about the vision statement "We envision a systemic network of wildlife crossings wherever they are needed to make highways safer for people and wildlife and to make habitats more connected for wildlife.” ............................................................................................................................... 16 Figure 9. Relative responses about agency willingness to invest in things that have not been done before. ................................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 10. Relative response as to whether their agency is more likely to be the first to implement a new design or program or wait until it has been proven elsewhere. ...............