Starre Julia Vartan

For my first article National Geographic, a positive human-wildlife story!

This story highlights a brand-new wildlife crossing on I90 east of Snoqualmie pass (my rainy-day pic, above) which unites animals from the north and south Cascades regions so their populations aren’t cut off from each other by a hazardous road. There are beautiful underpasses too. Read the story for more on this good news accomplishment that will help elk, deer, black bear, lynx, and little guys like pika and even bulltrout!

“Studies that looked at a cross-section of native species’ deaths on highways in Florida, bandicoots and wallabies in Australia, and jaguars in Mexico, just to name a few, all show that wildlife crossings save money and lives, both human and animal. ‘You can get reductions of 85 to 95 percent with crossings and fencing that guide animals under or over highways,’ Ament says.”