A measure that would appropriate some $50 million in funding for the construction of wildlife corridors is moving its way through the New Mexico State Legislature. Senate Bill 72, as proposed by Senator Mimi Stewart, has unanimously cleared the Senate Conservation Committee and would, if passed by the full legislature, see the building of any number of underpasses and overpasses allowing wildlife to avoid vehicular traffic while safely getting from one location to another. The bill would also fund the construction of boundary fencing, as well as the planning of any corridor construction project and ongoing management of the crossings. According to an analysis of the measure compiled by the Legislative Finance Committee, an average of 900 crashes per year between 2002 and 2018 entailed either deer or elk collisions with vehicles. For the entirety of that 16-year period, deer crashes numbered just over 11,400, followed by elk collisions at around 3,000. In a distant third place: black bear collisions at 650. The wildlife corridors measure has additionally won the approval of the Senate Finance Committee and will soon be considered by the full Senate. If approved by legislators and signed into law by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham it is possible that the corridors initiative could also be eligible for some federal funding. By Garry Boulard
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