Wildlife Linkage Habitat Analysis
Document source : www.aot.state.vt.us
Conclusions and Recommendations
This project represents an important initial effort towards identifying and understanding
significant WLH throughout the state of Vermont. This information will prove useful for
identifying wildlife habitat issues that may be associated with transportation development
projects in a timely fashion and thus, reduce the time necessary to address those issues in
the planning and permitting processes. It will also enable the VTrans and the Department
to make informed decisions regarding the appropriate degree of mitigation necessary to
address impacts to WLH or other significant habitats, as well as to make financially
responsible decisions regarding the locations of wildlife crossing infrastructure.
It is important to note that this is a preliminary, landscape-scale assessment of WLH in
Vermont. Additional field investigations will be necessary to confirm, on a site-by-site
basis, the significance of any given WLH identified as a result of this project. Site-
specific considerations for understanding the functions and values of WLH include
guardrails, bridges, culverts, fence openings, areas of dense vegetation near road edges,
sharp curves in the road alignment, and ridgelines along roads, among others (Hammond
2002). A field investigation protocol should be developed based on this information.
We recommend that VTrans and the Department continue to focus on a refined
assessment of WLHs in areas throughout the state that are targeted for transportation
improvement, new infrastructure, land conservation, or other issues of mutual interest.
We recommend that this GIS project continue to be refined with any new applicable data
that may become available in the foreseeable future. This model deserves a broader
scientific peer review. We recommend that other experts outside of Vermont be asked to
review the GIS project and the underlying assumptions that guide it.
Finally, it is essential to maintain the wildlife road mortality database that was developed
as a result of this project. We strongly recommend that this database and associated data
collection efforts be maintained by both Agencies. A modest financial commitment is
necessary for an annual update of the database and the corresponding GIS data layer.
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Summary :
Conclusions and Recommendations This project represents an important initial effort towards identifying and understanding significant WLH throughout the state of Vermont. Site- specific considerations for understanding the functions and values of WLH include guardrails, bridges, culverts, fence openings, areas of dense vegetation near road edges, sharp curves in the road alignment, and ridgelines along roads, among others (Hammond 2002).
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project,wlh,recommend,necessary,data,other,gis,wildlife,issues,ermont,road,database,information
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