HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-051 Letter of Support ODOT Wildlife Crossing Pilot ProgramI T Y 0 r
ASHLAND
CITY COUNCIL
Tanya Graham, Mayor
August 20, 2024
Gloria Shepherd, Executive Director
Federal Highway Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
Dear MS. Shepherd:
Please accept this letter on behalf of the City of Ashland, Oregon, stating our support for the Oregon
Department of Transportation's (ODOT) Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program (WCPP) grant application for the
project entitled "Oregon's 1-5 Wildlife Overcrossing Project: Reconnecting the Cascade-Siskiyou National
Monument."
ODOT has partnered with the Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition, a local group of 17 organizations
and state and federal agencies to plan for this Interstate 5 overpass to improve both wildlife and driver
safety. The Coalition raised funds in 2021 and finalized a Conceptual Design Study that identified the
Mariposa Preserve, inside the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, as the best site for an overpass. With
funnel fencing, this site will help wildlife cross the 4-lane freeway and decrease wildlife -vehicle collisions on
this steep, windy stretch of highway. This overpass will be the first wildlife overpass on Interstate 5 in Oregon.
This project supports our local rural economy that traditionally has higher unemployment than both the
state of Oregon and nation. We have just over 16,000 residents and have been hard hit in the past several
years with wildfire and pervasive smoke for weeks during summer months. Ashland, is home to the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival which had to shut for two seasons because of COVID and smoke impacts, leading to
two abysmal tourist seasons. The impact to our tourist economy has been severe both financially and
emotionally. Our community is renown for our outdoor lifestyle, proximity to the Pacific Crest Trail, love of fish
and wildlife, and increasing concern for climate change impacts on habitat and animal movement. The
Oregon 1-5 Wildlife Overcrossing Project supports both the culture and economy of our Ashland community.
Thank you for your fair consideration of this ODOT Wildlife Crossing Pilot Program grant. The City of Ashland
fully supports the grant request and looks forward to working with ODOT and the Southern Oregon Wildlife
Crossing Coalition to assure the planning and design are right -sized and meet the needs of our southern
Oregon, community and wildlife neighbors.
Sincerely,
Tonya7raham, Mayor
City of Ashland
CITY COUNCIL
20 East Main Street Tel: 541.488.6002
Ashland, Oregon, 97520 Fox 54488.5311
TTY: 800135.2900
oil (a (,mhkmd.mlino (email all of Council)