Wildlife crossing projects for red wolves in North Carolina and Nevada tortoises are among $126 million in federal infrastructure grants to 17 states that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy finalized from a backlog of 3,200 incomplete Biden-era grants.
Duffy announced May 14 the U.S. Department of Transportation’s fulfillment of wildlife crossings pilot program grants awarded in 2024 that were among 76 infrastructure grants worth $607 million approved under President Joe Biden’s administration without being finalized.
“This unprecedented backlog of unobligated grants delayed critical investments in communities across the country,” noted the DOT press announcement. It linked delays in executing the federal grants due to red tape resulting from such emissions policies that have been removed this year to finalize the grants. Duffy’s statement was accompanied by a spreadsheet with 405 unfinalized but approved DOT infrastructure grants awarded for a total of $4.98 billion. Some of the unobligated grants dated back to 2020.
Federal Dollars Moving Out from DC to 17 States
Now Federal Highway Administration funds will be released to the 17 wildlife crossing projects in Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
A spokesperson for the Nevada Department of Transportation confirmed being notified about the federal green light to send $16.83 million to the Coyote Springs Tortoise Crossings Project. “We’re pleased the grant is back in motion,” the spokesperson said. The project is to construction 61 wildlife crossings and install 68 miles of protective fencing along U.S. Highway 93 in southern Nevada. The Mojave desert tortoise, federally listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, is getting run over by vehicles while trying to cross the road.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s grant is for $25 million to create several wildlife underpasses and fencing along U.S. Route 64 within the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in Dare County. The goal is to better connect wildlife habitats for endangered red wolves, black bears and white-tailed deer to lower wildlife-vehicle collisions.
The Florida DOT will receive $6.1 million for its U.S. Highway 27-Venus Wildlife Crossing in Highlands County to build an underpass for creatures such as black bears and panthers to freely cross without being struck by passing vehicles.
DOT Also Signs Off On FHWA Culvert Grants from 2022 with Fish Passages
The latest batch of finalized FHWA grants also includes six infrastructure projects approved by DOT in 2022 under the National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Grant program. These awards will go to the California DOT ($6 million) to replace an undersized corrugated pipe culvert with a spanning bridge and remove upstream concrete barrier to enable endangered or threatened fish (such as steelhead trout, coho salmon and Pacific lamprey) to better pass through the San Lorenzo River in Castle Rock State Park.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife now will receive a $9.25 million grant to improve a fish passage and native migratory fish habitat under Oregon Route 99 for coho, cutthroat, winter and summer steelhead. The current culvert is a corrugated metal pipe with fish weirs.
Three Native American tribes also are receiving the culvert grants for fish passages. The Passmaquoddy Tribe in Maine has a $7.74 million culvert grant that has been released to improve access to Atlantic salmon habitats, 7,631 acres of alewife (herring) spawning areas and 40 miles of river habitat for fish in Downeast Maine.
In Washington state, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe is receiving $2.55 million for a project to replace a pair of undersized corrugated culverts on the Indian Mary Springs tributary to the Columbia River with a new 90‐foot steel bridge crossing. The venture will restore fish access to water and habitats for salmon and steelhead trout. The state’s Nooksack Indian Tribe also was given funding for a culvert grant ($1.23 million) for the Jones Creek Fish Passage project to replace a barrier box culvert in Jones with a bridge that also will improve an important fish passage.
Creative Infrastructure Projects to Improve Both Communities and Wildlife Survival
Although the culvert grants are primarily meant to improve infrastructure, government organizations are taking advantage of federal financial support in these community projects to benefit wildlife survival and create better habitats.
