Wildlife of all sizes enjoying new crossings on Interstate 90 in Washington

For the past few years, a lot of people have been wondering how any wildlife could possibly jump 50 feet into the air onto those enormous tunnel structures being built on Interstate 90 between Easton and Hyak. After a little patience, the public is finally starting to see the end product take shape, and the wildlife isn’t wasting anytime using the new highway. Central Washington University biology professor Kristina Ernest, along with several other CWU employees, has been working closely with the Washington State Department of Transportation, to not only build the most obvious wildlife overcrossing, but dozens between the Lake Easton exit and Hyak.WSDOT approached CWU during the beginning stages of the project to see if there was any interest in wildlife monitoring, and in 2008 the campus really got involved, monitoring not only the larger species like deer and elk, but smaller “low mobility” species like rodents, fish and amphibians.