DWR and UDOT introducing new app Utah Roadkill Reporter
Dec 8, 2022, 8:30 PM | Updated: Jan 11, 2023, 10:15 am
Utah Roadkill Reporter is a new app helping reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions. Available on Google Play and the App store now. Credit: Utah DWR
SALT LAKE CITY — The next time you see roadkill along a Utah highway, there’s a way to easily and quickly report it, thanks to Utah Roadkill Reporter.
Utah Roadkill Reporter is a new app available for Utah drivers. It is a partnership between the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the Utah Department of Transportation. Through this partnership, DWR and UDOT are working to help reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.
DWR Utah Mitigation Initiative Coordinator Blair Stringham tells KSL NewsRadio the program will help drivers and animals.
“It’s just a way for us to identify hotspot locations around the state where we’re seeing animals being hit by cars,” Stringham says. “The goal of this is to collect some really good data on where that’s occurring.”
He says those hotspots include Highway 89, running along the Wasatch Front, the roadway from Parley’s Canyon to Heber and areas where deer and elk are spending the summer or winter.
According to Stringham, DWR will work with UDOT and other partners to address these areas.
“[We’re] trying to make our roadway safer through fencing projects, crossing structures to allow animals to go over or under the roadways or just other ways to, essentially, try and make things safer for wildlife and people who use the roadways,” he says.
Stringham says the data will identify spots where animal mitigation is needed.
The app is available for free on the Google Play store and Apple’s App store.
Jeff Caplan contributed to this article.
