Wildlife crossing to be built next week

The Daily Inter Lake

A section of Montana 206 will be closed next week during the installation of a wildlife underpass.

From Monday through Friday, the section of the highway between Fairview Crossroad and Austin Crossroad will be closed to through traffic, according to Sandry Construction Co.

Traffic will be detoured on Middle Road and Columbia Falls Stage Road, connecting to Montana 206 via Austin Crossroad.

The underpass is being installed as part of the Montana Department of Transportation shoulder-widening project on the highway.

The crossing is in an area regularly used by an elk herd. There is an abundant deer population and grizzly and black bears are known to move through the timbered corridor surrounding the crossing area.

The underpass essentially will be an extra-wide, bottomless culvert under the highway, with trees and other vegetative cover on either side. Wing fencing will be installed to help funnel wildlife to the underpass.

The wildlife crossing was made possible by a public/private partnership that put together a fundraising campaign last year. Around $229,000 was needed for the underpass.

Part of the money came from federal-aid funding, but the balance came from contributors including Flathead County; Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks; American Wildlands; the Yellowstone to Yukon initiative; the Wildlife Land Trust; and the developer of a nearby subdivision.

Many individual donors also pitched in money for the project in response to an e-mail campaign.

The biggest boost for the underpass came from Jay and Sandy Whitney, the landowners who contributed land for the crossing on both sides of the highway plus $21,000 toward the project.