The I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project is setting a new standard for creating safe passage for people and wildlife in Washington’s Cascades with dozens of wildlife underpasses and two wildlife overpasses planned over a 15-mile stretch from Hyak to Easton. Collaboration and science have informed this project every step of the way, from design through construction. With several crossing structures complete and the full project funded, monitoring to ensure these measures are working is important. Additionally, wildlife monitoring on the habitat adjacent to the highway helps to inform natural resource management and conservation efforts while providing insight into what species may utilize the crossing structures in the future.  Links below offer greater information on the project and suite of wildlife monitoring completed or underway.

Quick links to I-90 corridor information

• I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Project
  • I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Wildlife Monitoring Plan (2008)
• I-90 Wildlife Corridor Campaign
• US Forest Service Snoqualmie Pass Adaptive Management Area

Fish and Wildlife Monitoring Reports and Information Relevant to I-90 corridor

• Baseline Wildlife Monitoring at I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East, Prior to the Installation of Wildlife Crossing Structures (2012)
• Cascades Carnivore Project website (a project documenting meso-carnivores in the Cascades north and south of I-90)

Central Washington University:

• Biology Department Homepage (links to individual researchers and research projects in I-90 corridor)
• Monitoring Fish and Low-Mobility Vertebrates Along a Major Mountain Highway:  A Snapshot Before Construction of I-90 Wildlife Crossing Structures.  Paul W. James et al (prepared for ICOET 2011)
• YouTube video overview of their ongoing I-90 research programs

Conservation Northwest:

• Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project (links to annual monitoring reports for winter and spring-fall)
• I-90 Wildlife Corridor Campaign
• I-90 Snoqualmie Pass Habitat Linkage Assessment (May 2000)
• I-90 Snoqualmie Pass East Mitigation Development Team Recommendation Package (July 2006)
• I-90 Wildlife Watch Reports:  Summary of reportings from motorists from North Bend to Easton
  • Year 1 Report:  November 2010-2011
  • Year 2 Report:  November 2011-2012

Other resources

• Mountain Goat Genetic Structure, Molecular Diversity, and Gene Flow in the Cascade Range, Washington (2009)
• The Cascades Carnivore Connectivity Project: A Landscape Genetic Assessment of Connectivity for Carnivores in Washington’s North Cascades Ecosystem (2013)

Fish and Wildlife Monitoring of Crossing Structures Elsewhere

• Parks Canada Wildlife Monitoring and Research page for the TransCanada Highway improvements
• US-93 in Montana – The Peoples Way