New West Feature
Hundreds of Antelope Hit by Trains on the Montana Hi-Line
“In my 34-year career, I have never seen a year where this amount of wildlife has been struck by trains in Montana or anywhere in the system,” said a spokesman for BNSF Railway.
By Kate Whittle, 3-17-11
More than 800 antelope have been hit by trains on the Montana Hi-Line this winter. It sounds like a bizarre accident, but officials say it’s because of combination of unusual factors.
This winter’s been one of the snowiest on record for Montana. It’s been especially bad in the northeastern part of the state, where the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Hi-Line track runs by Glasglow, Mont. As of Feb. 1, the area had received 70 inches of snow for the winter.
Migrating antelope trying to get away from the snow often end up on the railroad tracks, which are kept cleared, said Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Mark Sullivan. They also can’t jump fences, he said, which is why they often follow the railroad for long distances until there’s a break in the fencing or an open gate.
When a train comes along, the antelope don’t stand a chance.
It’s been a problem unique to antelope this year. No deer have been reported as being hit by trains, Sullivan said, most likely because they move in smaller groups and don’t make long migrations.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe spokesman Gus Melonas said it’s been a tough year for weather, and his company’s working on minimizing hitting any more antelope by having people monitor the tracks and keeping them clear of any spilled grain. Trains sometimes hit bears or moose in Glacier park, Melonas said, but the amount of antelope killed this year is not normal.
“In my 34-year career,” he said, “I have never seen a year where this amount of wildlife has been struck by trains in Montana or anywhere in the system.”
The reduced antelope herds may make a difference come fall, when Fish, Wildlife and Parks issues hunting licenses based on the population. Sullivan said they soon start doing surveys to see how many antelope are in the area. He’s not worried about long-term problems with the antelope. “These populations are always going up and down, they’re never staying the same,” he said. “You have a severe winter, the numbers are gonna drop.”
[End of article]Trains, freeways, highways with a center barrier, high speed transportation across the New West is a limiting factor for wildlife, and to an extent, a needless one. We have the technology and the skills to direct wildlife to migrate over or below these transportation rights of way. We just don't have the will to install them at public cost.
If you look at the coastal communities of Japan ravaged by tsunami, you can see the result of two decades or more of Japanese central government stimulus spending to keep people working after their real estate bubble bursting over two decades ago. Every beach had a high sea wall to keep out storm waves and known tsunami size waves. All the rivers have concrete high banks, to keep floods from farm land and housing. Japan spent trillions on public works in the last more than two decades. The never have gotten out of the real estate slump, but they have high speed rail "bullet trains," sea walls, dikes and good roads. If wildlife migration were of national concern, we would build ways to move wildlife and keep those constructions working, and more wildlife alive, and breeding in a more extensive and diverse gene pool. We just need the will to do it. Pay a penny on a gallon of fuel for wildlife crossings and underpasses. The public paying to protect the public's wildlife from the public.
Nice comment, Bearbait. Good idea.
The larger problem with those antelope is the size of the area they cover. Most of them are transplants from Canada. They come down and may winter anywhere from Malta to Plentywood ( and beyond) Some years you see none. The next there are hundreds. In our area we probably had 500 this year. Last year I did not see any.
I know they collared a few to see where they go and they found that these goats will travel 60 miles in a day and go far up into Canada. We also have resident antelope which seem to go further south before winter arrives.
Winters no doubt control their numbers. Hunting has little effect on them except possibly to trim a few so the others have more winter browse.
I don't know if building wildlife corrodors across the tracks would do any good. They don't seem to congregate in any one area for successive winters.
I do know that in my antelope hunting area it is chancy if you get a tag. They may be there that year or maybe not. Always a crap shoot.
Fun to watch an animal that maybe be 100 miles up into canada the next week if they feel like it.......
Good, but sad story; a similar situation to that encountered with moose in Alaska.
For the record and despite the common misconception/misuse of the term, though, the affected animals are pronghorn, not "antelope" (i.e., they are a distinct North American species, unrelated to true antelope which are native to Africa and Asia).
Well, jw, then you better contact the fish and game and get the name chaned on the applications for permits to "pronghorn" instead of "prognhorn antelope".
Actually, most people out here call them "prairie goats".
They are definitely a pain in the butt when 100 of them decide they like your pea crop.....
Where exactly does our money go when we pay for tags etc? It seems like there should be a biologist/game warden getting paid to keep an eye on things like this and monitoring weather conditions, populations, animal movements but when something like this happens all the Fish and Game says is nothing at all or it was a combination of things. Give me a break. Their job is to monitor wildlife populations. When it snows a lot they need to anticipate things like this happening and work with the railroad. If they can't monitor wildlife then what exactly are they doing? Make the railroad pay for not alerting the FnG about this and make the FnG pay for being stupid. We need to clean house at the FnG and that is nothing new. Another great example of failure at protecting our natural resources. The really sad things is this will happen again and again. Ridiculous! And we think wolves were destroying big game numbers.
Comment By big sky, 3-18-11Exactly Mad, where does it go?
Millions of dollars from pheasant, grouse, duck, antelope, deer, and elk hunters in Eastern Montana.
We have one game warden from Scobey to Sidney. One Biologist. We have a nice building in Glasgow with a couple fellas there.
Where does the money go?
It goes to HELENA to pay the upper crust big bucks. Thats where it goes.
It also goes to BUY LAND and run more people out of the farming and ranching business. Thats where it goes.
If you work for the fish and game, you need to get into management. Thats where the big bucks are and THAT is where your money goes.
Big Sky= If you travel around Miles City on the interstate you will noticed a tall fence with dirt mounds every mile on the opposite side for the wildlife that gets caught in the center to get back. The tall fence build for pronghorns & deer cannot jump or crawl the fence and they will follow it to a bridge where they can migrate under without crossing the dangerous highway. Since this fence was put up there has been no collision with deers or pronghorns since!! There is no reason why the railroad can't do this on the highline ! Same goes for the interstate at Bozeman ! I seen a average of deer hit every day on this corridor. Think of the cost of repairing vehicles and cost of insurance that would be saved in the long run and the number of wildlife saved. Hell the new highway in Mission Valley has this put in for wildlife near Nine Pipes!! Underpass for wildlife.
Comment By Craig Moore, 3-19-11I don't think the corridors would do any good. The antelope on the tracks are attempting to escape the deep snow. How about some intermittent berms that mimic the raised tracks to provide the same benefit for the animals?
Comment By Craig Moore, 3-19-11BTW, the caption under the picture is incorrect. Essex is nowhere near where the antelope are dying on the tracks. The distance from Essex to Malta is about 270 miles on US 2.
Comment By big sky, 3-19-11Good idea Runner.
I have seen that fence. Appears to work fine.
Not sure if their are enough underpasses along the tracks though.
It would cost a lot to build. No highway money. Would have to come from the railroad or fish and game.
Hey, since the wolf issue is now history, maybe DOW could donate like 10 million of the 31 million they received from donations last year. They could really help animals!
The way people have to look at investments in wildlife protection structures is that having a little bit of something is better than having all of nothing. If Montana has a successful fence and underpass system working somewhere, that has to attract attention and funding for more, the building of another piece of good wildlife husbandry. A step here and a step there, and pretty soon you have traveled some distance. Tax the megaloads across the state to construct wildlife safe passages. A penny on a gallon of fuel. A fee on those mega watts of wind power going to other states, all to profit companies in Europe or on the East Coast. There is a way to get wildlife across freeways, railroads, dangerous migration routes. And this from a fiscal conservative. Like others, I feel our sports taxes have been spent on things other than wildlife, and we need for the beneficiaries to cough some of it back up. A gas tax is a nice place.
Comment By Colonel Bain- Historian~ MONK, 3-20-11Thumbs Up from De Colonel on dis One!
Comment By Phil, 3-21-11The fence east of Miles City --- is effective, but by dividing and eliminating historical migration routes... the exit ports; tunnels (dark, scary, hard to get antelope/deer to use) and one way ramps (constructed with a cross bar that discourages use!) aren't well thought out. Antelope would never use them. You'd have pronghorn piling up and dying enmass as they follow the fence looking for a crossing ---especially in a blizzard. I suppose 'cow-catchers' on locomotives wouldn't help save some of the critters...?? Maybe Montana should take a year off from issuing pronghorn tags and let them recover a bit. I'll bet all the does have stressed so bad they'll abort if they haven't already.
Comment By bigsky, 3-21-11Historical migration routes? How would you know about that? Those whitetail are pretty much local. Never heard of whitetail deer migrating much.
That highway basically follows the yellowstone. I never read about any migrations of antelope down there. They might (if they could) visit that river bottom a bit, but historically crossed there in any numbers? Must been that way before the while fellas came around but now we live here.
The point is the highway is gonna stay there regardless. They did a good thing putting that fence up with the escapes and such. I know the insurance companies like it.
You have to understand that hunting has very little effect on pronghorn numbers in eastern montana. Its the winters that do it. We were basically in a "high" for numbers for some areas. It will cycle high and low regardless of hunting pressure. Just less hunters will find antelope. Keep in mind that most of our country is open with little fencing that stops them from roaming. We are talking hundred of square miles. Go up north of Glasgow sometime. Better have a full tank of gas and some survival gear for the winter. Its flat with coolees and never ending with few people. Regardless of what people say, I have seen antelope duck under fences regularly. I have never seen one try to jump, but they duck under them. Seems like those antelope have twins alot also.
Talk about snow this year. I was up by Malta fishing saturday and I could not believe the snow. They were not kidding when they said something like 56 inches this winter. All the deer I saw were in peoples yards and haystacks. Saw no antelope, however. Once again, the farmer is taking care of montanas wildlife......