Greg Bunce: Welcome to another episode of the Utah Geospatial Podcast. This is Greg Bunce.
Matt Peters: And I’m Matt Peters.
Greg Bunce: And we’re from the Utah Geospatial Resource Center. This podcast will be bringing you Geospatial news from across Utah.
Today on the show we talk with Blair Stringham from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Blair is the program manager for the Utah Wildlife Migration Initiative.
In this episode, you’ll hear about how the initiative was created to identify, preserve, and enhance wildlife migration corridors in Utah. Blair talks about the technology they use, including GPS collars and satellite tracking, to monitor the movements of various species such as mule deer, elk, and bighorn sheep.
We also discuss how this data is used to make management decisions, such as building wildlife crossings over highways to reduce collisions and improve safety for both animals and drivers. And we touch on the importance of partnerships with other agencies and organizations to make this initiative successful. So let’s get started.
Matt Peters: Today we have Blair Stringham with us. Blair is with the Division of Wildlife Resources and he manages the Wildlife Migration Initiative. And I think this is a fascinating topic because we see wildlife all around us, but we don’t always think about how they move across the landscape and the challenges they face. So Blair, maybe you can start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your background.
Blair Stringham: Thanks Matt. I’m happy to be here. I grew up in Utah, always loved the outdoors and wildlife. I went to Utah State University and got a degree in Wildlife Science. I’ve been with the Division of Wildlife Resources for about 15 years now. I started out working with waterfowl and then moved into big game management. And now I’m overseeing the Migration Initiative.
Greg Bunce: So Blair, what exactly is the Wildlife Migration Initiative and why was it created?
Blair Stringham: The Wildlife Migration Initiative was created in 2017. Its main goal is to identify, preserve, and enhance wildlife migration corridors in Utah. We realized that as the state grows and develops, it’s becoming harder for animals to move between their summer and winter ranges. Roads, fences, housing developments, all these things can block migration routes. So we wanted to get ahead of that and identify where these critical corridors are so we can protect them.
Matt Peters: How do you track the animals? I imagine it’s evolved quite a bit over the years.
Blair Stringham: It definitely has. In the past, we relied a lot on observational data, just seeing where animals were. But now we use GPS collars. We capture the animals, put a collar on them, and that collar sends a signal to a satellite which then sends the location data to us. We can get locations every few hours, so we can see exactly where an animal is moving in near real-time.
Greg Bunce: That’s amazing. What kind of animals are you tracking?
Blair Stringham: We’re tracking a wide variety of species. Mule deer and elk are the big ones, but we’re also tracking moose, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, bison. We’re even tracking some birds like pelicans and sage grouse. And we’re starting to look at some fish species as well.
Matt Peters: What do you do with all this data once you have it?
Blair Stringham: We use the data to map out the migration corridors. We can see where the animals are spending the most time, where they’re crossing roads, where they’re encountering obstacles. Then we can use that information to prioritize projects. For example, if we see a lot of deer crossing a highway in a specific location, we can work with UDOT to put in a wildlife crossing, like an underpass or an overpass, to help them get across safely.
Greg Bunce: I’ve seen some of those crossings. They’re pretty impressive. Do they actually work?
Blair Stringham: They work incredibly well. We’ve seen a huge reduction in wildlife-vehicle collisions in areas where we’ve installed crossings. It’s safer for the animals and it’s safer for drivers. It’s a win-win.
Matt Peters: You mentioned partnerships. Who do you work with on this initiative?
Blair Stringham: We work with a lot of different partners. UDOT is a big one, obviously, for the road crossings. But we also work with federal agencies like the BLM and the Forest Service, since a lot of the migration routes cross federal land. We work with private landowners, conservation groups, universities. It really takes a collaborative effort to make this work because wildlife don’t recognize political boundaries.
Greg Bunce: Is the data available to the public? Can people see where the animals are migrating?
Blair Stringham: We do share some of the data publicly, but we have to be careful. We don’t want to give out specific locations of animals in real-time because that could lead to harassment or poaching. But we do produce maps showing general migration corridors and winter ranges. You can find those on our website at wildlife.utah.gov/migration.
Matt Peters: What’s the future of the initiative? Where do you see it going?
Blair Stringham: We want to continue to expand our tracking efforts to include more species and more areas of the state. We also want to do more habitat restoration work in these corridors to make sure there’s enough food and cover for the animals as they migrate. And we want to continue to work with our partners to implement solutions like wildlife crossings to ensure that these migration routes are preserved for future generations.
Greg Bunce: Well, it sounds like really important work. Thanks for joining us today, Blair.
Blair Stringham: Thanks for having me.
Matt Peters: Yeah, thanks Blair. It’s great to learn about how technology is helping to conserve wildlife in Utah.